Silver Eyes
by nightowl4829
Summary: A normal mission for the team changes things quite a bit when they discover a teenage girl who might just become the next Avenger. But for a certain Avenger, will she become something more than just a team mate? Don't let the summary discourage you, it gets better I promise. Steve/OC Rated T for my own paranoia.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this is my first fan fiction, and I would like to formally invite all of you to the craziness that is my mind. It's entertained me for quite a bit, so I thought why not share. This story is set Post- Avengers. No Loki...yet. Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers. I asked for them for my birthday, but all I got was money. If anyone from Marvel is reading this, I've got a nice crisp 50 dollar bill to trade.**

The Avengers (minus Thor, who was currently on Asguard, and Bruce, who was waiting in a nearby SUV should the Hulk be needed) were all gathered around a large building set somewhere in the warehouse district. "Tony, are you sure this is the correct building? We only have one shot at surprising them," Clint said, fiddling around with his bow.

"Of course I'm sure. Quite frankly, that question hurts my pride a bit-", he started.

"The signal is coming from somewhere in the top floor of the building," Bruce cut in from the earpiece they each had.

"Okay boys, let's play," Natasha said, ending whatever comment Tony was going to make. Following her lead, the team quickly stormed into the warehouse. It was immediately obvious that things wouldn't be going according to plan. They were met by a rather large group of men with guns standing behind a man in a shabby suit. They were in the loading area of the warehouse, with a wide open floor, and the mob of gunmen were closer to the back wall, which held a few doors on the bottom, and a balcony to the offices about 12 feet up.

"Welcome, you got here just in time. Oh, I would lower those guns, all of you," the suited man said, looking at Natasha in particular," after all, you wouldn't want my poor little hostage to get hurt." At this statement a girl in handcuffs was pushed towards the front quite roughly by one of the gunmen. Several of them had guns pointed at her. She looked to be a teenager, with light blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed absolutely terrified of the current situation.

The Avengers slowly lowered their guns, already realizing that their former plan would no longer be effective. The man in the suit smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nicholas Solomon, and in a few minutes my plans shall be complete. I'm guessing that you've already realized that I hacked into the nearest military base. In a few minutes, their nuclear missiles will be launched, thanks to yours truly, and will crash into Russia. Or Eastern Europe. It doesn't really matter to me where they end up, the result will be the same. War, on a magnificent level."

Most of the Avengers (and everyone else) were focused on Soloman, but when Clint glanced back at the hostage to see if she could be removed from the situation, he noticed she didn't appear to be as terrified. In fact, with no one watching her, she looked almost...bored. Clint's eyes narrowed a fraction. Something was wrong here. Either she was a voluntary hostage, or there were other things in play here.

"There is nothing anyone can do," Soloman continued,"in a matter of minutes, all of this will-"

"Seriously," a new voice interrupted,"just because every single cartoon villain has to go into a long winded explanation doesn't mean- oh, my apologies. Please continue." The teenage girl stopped short of her complaint at the look Soloman gave her, raising her hands palm up in surrender. As she lowered her hands, a wisp of hair lowered into her face and it was apparent to both of the assassins that she had just used her pinky and ring fingers to steal a bobby pin from the side of her head.

"Did I look like I was talking to you," Solomon questioned coldly as he glared at her. "You are nothing more than an insignificant brat. Just stand there quietly. Understand?"

The girl had adopted her bored look again as she said, "I would feel insulted, but 'insignificant' is a five syllable word. I think someone earned himself a shiny gold star." Solomon crossed the distance between them in four quick steps and back handed her across the face while the Avengers moved forward in outrage, only to be stopped by more motioning from the gunmen.

The girl was knocked backward by the force of the hit and landed roughly near another man, who hauled her up to her feet and held her up by her shoulder while she clutched her face, hiding it. Steve was protesting against the girl's treatment and caught everyone's attention, but that didn't stop Clint from seeing the girl lower her hands, a small smile on her face as she quickly picked the lock of the handcuffs with her bobby pin. This girl was playing at something, but he couldn't decide exactly what it was. He could tell that she had some experience, because she was effectively picking the lock without looking at it, and quickly too. He was just about to decide whether or not he should try to extract the girl when the decision was taken away from him.

Solomon was continuing his long speech for everyone when it was interrupted, again. This time the girl had started singing from where she stood, held in front of the gunman as a shield. "I fell in to a burning ring of fire, I went down, down, down, but the flames went higher..." She trailed off as everyone's attention flicked to her and Solomon once again started to move towards her.

"Not a fan of Johnny Cash," she asked, eyebrows raised. "Too bad." She raised a silver lighter that even Clint failed to notice and flicked it open, throwing it right at Solomon's feet, where it quickly caught fire and spread into a neat circle around him. That's when everything went into a flurry of activity.

The girl quickly turned and had her captor down in two hits. She was lightning fast, with precise, practiced movements. While the Avengers were scrambling to join the fight, she had already downed several of the men. One of the gunmen aimed at her and she had enough time to call out "oh, I wouldn't" before he fired. The gun went off, eliciting a rather high pitched scream- from the man who fired. The barrel of his gun had exploded, sending bits of shrapnel into his hand. A few of his friends made the same discovery the hard way, and it was clear the guns had been tampered with somehow.

The girl threw a nearby box at the head of a man standing towards the back, who used both of his hands to catch it. He was entirely unprepared for the rock that followed it, aimed solely at his crotch. With a cry of pain he doubled over, and the girl ran towards him, using his hunched over figure to give her a lift up to the balcony behind him. She quickly took off down a corner and went out of sight as the Avengers dispatched with the rest of the men and located a fire extinguisher to get the now screaming Solomon out of his fiery trap.

"A few things," said the teenager as her voice carried out from the intercom system. She had apparently located the main office. "First, yes, this was entirely planned out ahead of time. You are incredibly predictable, right down to which henchman I had to hide my lighter on. Second, suits don't work for everyone, Mr. Solomon. You look like Peewee Herman." Tony started to giggle from where he was finishing up the rest of the men. "Third, I don't really consider myself 'insignificant'. And fourth, I may have gotten a C in computer science, but..."

"Missile sequence deactivated," stated an electronic female voice over the intercom.

"I'm pretty sure the teacher had something against me," she finished. "Oh, as a side note, karma really sucks. Bye," she said in a cheery voice as the intercom cut off. Natasha and Clint were already on their way up to the offices, and Clint, who took a similar path up from the balcony got a fleeting view of the girl as she took off from the office down the hallway and into a nearby room, closing the door behind her. He was right on her tail and opened the door as soon as it shut, looking in to reveal...an empty closet. There were no air vents, no windows, no ceiling tiles out of place. Just a dead end.

The archer was more confused than ever. "Guys," he said into his earpiece,'' the girl is gone. I'm not sure how, but I've lost visual on her."

"Who was she," Steve asked.

"I'm not sure, but I like her," Tony said. Everyone was finally stunned when Natasha and Tony finally agreed on something for once.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Oh my gosh, guys! I was so excited when I saw all of the reviews and the people who favorited my story! You guys rock! I'm going to try to update a new chapter at least every other day, because I am a benevolent dictator. ^^ Sadly my OC is not present in this chapter, but you get to know a bit more about her and learn some background, so it's just as well. On with the story. Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers, but I would settle for Tom Hiddleston or Chris Evans (hell, make it any of them) tied up in my closet. No questions asked.**

Director Fury sat at the head of the table in the meeting room, rubbing his temples with his hand. They were in the middle of a debriefing on the latest mission and he had started to develop a headache. "You mean to tell me," he said without looking up," that some teenage girl managed to take out a roomful of men and disable the missiles like it was child's play?"

"Sir-" Natasha said before Fury continued to talk over her.

"Furthermore, I fail to see why this is my problem," he stated.

"The girl was more than she seemed. She must have been trained, or working for someone. Either way, it's obvious that she is not your average teenager. I for one would like to know why," Clint said, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

"Very well. There was video footage at the scene. Have we identified her yet," Fury asked.

"We couldn't find her in any of the systems. However, there is other video footage you might want to see," Natasha said as she pulled up the videos. "This was the security feed from a bank in Richmond, Virginia. Last week there was a robbery with hostages stuck inside the bank." The image on screen showed the inside of the bank. Hostages were spread out across the floor ten feet apart with their hands tied behind their backs. There were a few desks behind them and in the back was the main office. A couple of men with black ski masks roamed through out the room, trying to be as imposing as possible to keep the hostages quiet and from acting up. Then, slowly, one of the swivel chairs by the back row of desks started to rotate, revealing the same blonde haired girl they had seen yesterday. She sat with her legs crossed and her hands steepled. It was like watching a movie.

"I don't suppose I could appeal to your better nature," she called out to the two armed men. They had yet to notice her and when they heard her voice they jumped, scrambling for their guns.

"Thought so," she said, and quickly pulled two small knives from her lap and threw them at each man, landing exactly in the center of their chests. She ducked to the floor as they got a few shots off at her before they collapsed, dead, on the ground. The girl quickly got up, removed their guns, and grabbed a pair of scissors from the nearest desk. She walked over to the nearest hostage and cut the duct tape holding his hands behind his back.

The camera wasn't good enough quality for them to hear as she bent over and handed the man the scissors. They could just barely make out the sound of angry yelling coming from off screen, and the girl shot up and pointed her guns at the hallway. She fired, and the yelling stopped aside from the screams of the other hostages.

The girl stalked off screen in the same direction she had fired and the screen went black. Then the image was replaced by a new video stream, that was lower quality than the last. It was slightly grainy, and there wasn't any sound. It looked like security footage outside some type of store, at night.

There was a group of four men, all dressed like they were in a gang. They stood around the blonde girl with guns pointing at her and the two police men that were on the other side of the situation. It seemed like there was a conversation going on between the two groups that was interrupted by the girl. The man holding her changed his focus from her to the gun in his hand, moving it slightly to the side so it was no longer pointed at her. She whipped her head back and hit him in the nose, then stomped on his foot while moving his right hand with the gun in it to point at one of the other gangsters. The gun went off, shooting him just as he was firing back, hitting the man behind her when she ducked forward. It was a mess of activity that the poor quality camera couldn't shoot effectively. In the end most of the gang members were down, and the last one standing was taken care of with a knife thrown into his throat. As soon as the knife was in the air, the girl was on the run, out of view of the camera feed that had now been stopped.

Fury stared at the screen with interest. "What exactly was that last scene?"

"There was some sort of shoot out between some small gang and the local cops outside of a Wal Mart in Lansing, Michigan. The gang was using her to try to make a get away. You just witnessed the negotiations. The police wrote in their report that the man holding her threatened to blow her brains out, but she told him 'that would be a pretty neat trick with the safety on'. You saw the rest," Natasha said.

Fury looked around at the team seated at the table. They all seemed mildly impressed, even Bruce, who didn't get to see first hand what had happened in the warehouse.

"And I suppose you want to, what? Recruit her," he asked.

Steve cleared his throat. "We're not entirely sure what the case may be, or even who she is yet."

"Not so fast, Spandex. I asked JARVIS to run his own tests and got a few matches, none more than a 78% recognition though," Tony said.

"Try taking away the hair color and eye color," Natasha replied. Everyone gave her a blank stare. "She's a girl," she explained with an eye roll. "She might be wearing a wig, or even colored contacts."

Tony ran the search again and this time got some higher matches. "Here's one. A 93% match. Samantha Harper. Age 18. Lives in a small town in Indiana. Oh, thanks JARVIS," he tacked on at the end.

"What is it, Stark," Fury asked when it became apparent he wasn't going to share.

"It seems the police have gotten a bit of help in her county. Someone keeps calling in anonymous tips to different locations for drug dealers and such. The cops show up and it's always the same: someone is unconcious and zip tied in the middle of the room and there's drugs and various weapons through out the house," Tony said.

"So, we're looking at some vigilantee here," Bruce asked.

"Apparently," Tony replied.

"Just go do whatever it is you wanted to do. I honestly don't care anymore," Fury sighed as he walked out of the room.

The Avengers all looked around at each other. "There's one thing I specifically want to know," Clint said. "That closet was completely sealed. How did she get out?"

**A/N: Yay. I gave her a name. Oh, one more thing I forgot. I just wanted to give a special thank you to my dearest friend, plummuffins, who convinced me to start writing fan fiction. Thank you! That's pretty much it. Thank you to every one who reads and reviews. Feel free to leave any questions or comments in the review section so that I can clear it up. Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: One of my friends complained that I made my OC too similar to myself (which I consider a compliment, cause Sam kicks ass), so I gave Sam an iPhone. I have an Android; clearly we are very different. Me to my friend earlier: "my OC is going to have a best friend just like you, because everyone deserves to have someone like you in their life" - get out of jail free card for when I do something stupid later lol. Thank you, once again to everyone who favorites and reviews for my story. I love you all. I'm so glad you like Sam, I'm like a proud parent. ^^ This chapter may seem like filler, but everything happens for a reason. Except when I write something just cause it's funny. There are gonna be lots of laughs in the next chapter now. Also, I'm trying to write longer chapters for you all. Disclaimer: I still do not own the Avengers or any of the actors. I got excited when I heard a muffled thump in my closet, but it was just my cat. She opens doors. It's creepy. O.O**

Two days after the incident at the warehouse Samantha Harper found herself out for a jog in a park a few miles from her house, enjoying the sunny afternoon. The trail through the woods was relatively quiet, with only one or two stray bike riders disturbing her listening to music on her iPhone. Checking the time, she had a few hours before her best friend/roommate got off work. They were going to have a girls' night. Hopefully without guns this time.

Back at her house however, the Avengers were doing a little breaking and entering. Or rather, just entering. Strangely, the house wasn't even locked. They entered the small three bedroom house without a single neighbor so much as looking out a window at them and helped themselves to a little tour.

It was surprisingly clean for two college students. The living room was neat, even with it being slightly cramped from all of the furniture. Pillows and blankets were stacked on a chair. An impressively large DVD collection was arranged next to the flat screen. There were a few pictures scattered around the room of groups of teenagers and Steve picked up one of the frames closest to him. The girl was begrudgingly posing under a gazebo and looked exactly like the blonde girl, except for her long, dark brown hair and eyes of a similar shade. She was actually more attractive as a brunette, he thought, and quickly blushed at the thought. He set down the frame and hurried into the kitchen where Clint was helping himself to a soda from the fridge. Steve glared at him.

"What," Clint said defensively. "I'll leave an IOU. I was thirsty, and this is strawberry soda. I wanted to try it."

Steve just shook his head as he looked around the kitchen. Technically, he was the youngest person on his team, but sometimes it didn't feel like it. He was impressed by the kitchen. Not because it was large or had gadgets he could never work, but because it looked used. There were groceries in the cabinets and fridge, and a bowl of apples sitting out. It certainly looked more used than the one at the tower; they got take out more often than not. In fact he smelled...cookies. Chocolate chip, like the kind his mom used to make growing up.

He smiled as he walked down the hallway to the next room. Tony was laughing as he went through a pile of colorful paper on the table.

"Tony," Steve sighed," it would really help if you weren't doing...whatever it is that you're doing."

"Check it out, Capsicle. There's arts and crafts,"he exclaimed. Natasha stalked into the room and ascertained that yes, the table was covered in scrapbooking supplies and there was various colored yarn in a cabinet to the side. She smirked as she held up a rainbow scarf. Yes, Steve thought, sometimes he really felt like the oldest in the group.

Across the hall Bruce was checking out an office-like space, with two desks. One of which had a laptop sitting out and various notebooks and textbooks stacked in the corner. Bruce's interest was currently focused on the large bookshelf that seemed to contain a variety of genres.

Clint left the kitchen and went up the stairs. There were three bedrooms up here, and two bathrooms along with the one downstairs. Two of the rooms looked actually used; the other must be a guest room. He idly wondered which one belonged to Samantha. The purple room seemed a more promising bet. He looked around and let out a small laugh as he found a closet that looked moderately neat- except for the pile of Captain America goodies on the floor. There were birthday cards, playing cards, a t-shirt, even a toy shield. He picked it up and carried it down the stairs.

Natasha was making a few discoveries of her own. She had left the craft room and passed an office where Bruce and Steve were looking at the bookshelf. There was a door at the end of the hall that she assumed was a closet, but when she turned the handle discovered that it was locked. Now she had to open it. Why leave the front door unlocked, but keep this door shut? She had it opened rather easily, making sure not to damage it. She had to worry about first impressions and all. Not that she figured the teenage girl would be too happy to come home and find her house invaded. Oh well.

There was a light switch just inside the door frame which she used to illuminate the staircase that descended downward. When she reached the bottom she figured out why it was locked. There was a nice personal gym down here, but instead of the usual treadmill and yoga mat a punching bag hung in the corner and a large target was set up along the far wall. A shelf with throwing knives was nearby. It actually looked like a lower tech version of a SHIELD training room, except for the lack of a shooting range. Of course, the neighbors might not have appreciated the noise, she thought wryly.

She picked up one of the knives and threw it herself, smiling when it hit dead center on the target. As usual. When she retrieved it she was happy to note that there were plenty of marks around the center of the target, with a few stray ones in various places. The girl couldn't be that bad, although the strays suggested a need for more practice.

Natasha headed back up the stairs and into the living room at the same time most of the others were gathering there. They heard Clint coming down the stairs and saw him round the corner, shield in hand.

"Oh guys, look what I found," he called out with a grin and lifted the shield. "Someone has a secret shrine in her closet!"

"Great, we can just let Spangles seduce her into joining," Tony said, watching with a smirk as Steve blushed.

"Come on, guys. Don't fool around," he said. "Besides, that could be her roommate's stuff."

"We'll find out when she comes home," Clint teased.

"Did anyone find anything actually relevant," Steve asked in an annoyed tone.

"I went through a laptop in the office, but it was mostly full of assignments," Bruce said.

"Hold up," Tony said to Bruce,"You hacked the computer? Invading peoples' privacy is my job!" He almost looked hurt.

"Sorry, but you were too busy making macaroni noodle necklaces."

"There are lots of fun toys in the basement. I found a punching bag, throwing knives, the usual," Natasha cut in with a shrug.

"You and I have very different definitions of 'fun toys' and 'usual'," Tony replied. Steve chose to not read into that statement too much.

"I guess now we wait," Bruce said as he settled into a chair with a book he had found earlier.

It wasn't long before they heard a scratching noise from the back door in the kitchen. The group tensed and prepared for a confrontation as they made Natasha open the door. A little calico cat ran inside and towards an unnoticed food bowl in the corner.

"Hello to you, too," she said sarcastically as she was ignored by the cat who was fully focused on it's food. She walked back into the living room with the rest of the team to patiently wait on their guest of honor.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the follows and favorites. Don't even get me started on the wonderful reviews. They make me tear up a bit. I'm so glad people enjoy my humor. In fact, every time I get an email on my phone for another alert on my story I squee and do a little happy dance...I'm no longer allowed to check my phone in Wal Mart. Oh please, like I'm the weirdest person in there. In fact, while I was killing time in there today for my dad to finish his dental appointment I found a Stan Lee look alike and stalked him through the store. ...probably shouldn't have admitted that. Anyway, Disclaimer: Day four of my search for the rights to the Avengers continues, but the elusive beast has kept slipping through my clever traps. (translation: still not mine) Enjoy the chapter!**

Samantha looked down at her phone and cursed. She thought she had more time. There was now only 40 minutes or so until her roommate, Amber, got home. She was only 2 miles from the house; she could probably make it there in time to change and get everything ready for their girls' night in. It was Amber's idea anyway, something about "wanting to spend time together" and "threaten me with a knife all you want, you're not getting out of it". She had told her while in the middle of practicing in the basement.

They were actually best friends; a lot of people asked if they were related, mostly because of the odd friendship dynamic. They had lots of mock fights and used such affectionate terms as "whore" and "bitchface" for each other. It was just their humor.

She got home in about fifteen minutes or so and walked around the side of the house. She paused while wrapping up her headphones; something was off. There wasn't any unusual cars parked nearby, but she knew something was different. A small smile on her face, she continued around to the kitchen door. Whoever it was hadn't made a direct move on her yet, and really, what could they do?

Sam opened the door and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge, noticing both that someone had taken one of her sodas and that the cat had also been let in. "Could I offer you a drink," she called over her shoulder casually. "Water, tea, another soda maybe?"

The Avengers glanced around at each other and Clint guiltily eyed his nearly empty can on the coffee table as the girl, Samantha, walked into the room with her water.

"No, thank you," Steve replied as Tony said, "I'll take some rum."

"Fresh out," she said without missing a beat.

"You're an underage college student. Where's your stash," he asked.

"Oh, alcohol and I are no longer on speaking terms. It was spreading lies about me, you know how it is. Facebook drama," she said.

Everyone cracked a smile except for Steve, who didn't quite understand the joke. She made herself comfortable on a small ottoman, which was pretty much the only seat left, and took a long swig of water.

"Miss Harper-," Steve began.

"You can call me Sam," she said as she screwed on her bottle cap.

"Sam, we want to talk to you about what happened a few days ago in a warehouse outside of Baltimore," he finished.

"I figured as much," she replied.

"You don't seem that surprised to see us," Natasha noted.

"Considering what I do in my free time I've learned to pretty much just kind of go with whatever happens. Honestly, at this point, I'm amazed stranger things haven't happened yet," she shrugged.

"Stranger than having the Avengers in your living room," Clint asked.

"Well, I found a goat in the hall closet once, but that's a story for another time."

"Could it have been because you don't lock your door," Bruce asked.

She turned to look at him. "I'm not too worried about anyone that could be stopped by a locked door."

"Yet you lock your basement," Natasha pointed out.

"That's mainly to keep children and nosey friends out."

"And your roommate...," Natasha trailed off.

"Oh, she knows. She goes down there sometimes. She can't do any real damage besides the basic self defense I made her learn. Wait, I take that back. She killed one of my punching bags the first time she tried my throwing knives. At least she can hit the target now," she laughed. That explains the marks around the target, Natasha thought.

The little calico slipped out from the kitchen and jumped onto Sam's lap, where it started to purr loudly.

"Nice cat," Steve said.

"Thanks. Her name is Pita."

"Like the bread," Clint asked, amused.

"No. It's actually an acronym for pain in the ass," she said and everyone cracked a smile; even Steve couldn't help it. It was infectious. "There's another cat that wanders in now and then. We named her Super cali fragilistic expi ala docious."

"Do you really call her that," Bruce asked, eyebrows raised.

"Of course not. That would be ridiculous. We call her Soup."

"Right. Not ridiculous at all," Tony said. "Speaking of which, nice scrapboo-," he cut off when Steve glared at him.

"Yeah," Sam replied, drawing out the word. "That's all Amber's stuff. She got her own room so that she could stop breaking things in the basement."

"I'm sure this is her's too," Clint said with a serious face as he held up the plastic shield. Sam actually blushed a bit.

"Well, _thank God _you didn't push the secret button to reveal the false back of my closet with the Iron Man voodoo doll and ring of candles. That would have been embarassing."

"So you admit that it's your's," Clint pointed out before Tony could do something typical.

"Yes," she sighed. Steve was fighting the urge to blush as he avoided eye contact with everyone. "But my birthday is actually on the 4th of July, so it's a given. All of the stuff in my closet I got from friends for my birthday."

"Cap's birthday is actually on the 4th as well," Natasha said.

The conversation was brought to a halt as a car pulled up the driveway. A teenage girl with similar hair hopped out of the driver's seat with a few grocery bags. "That's Amber," Sam said just before she came in the kitchen door.

"Oh Sammy-pie," Amber called out in a sing-song voice from the kitchen. "I've got a present for you. It's another matching friendship necklace for you, since you keep misplacing them." Several of the people in the living room began laughing, including Sam, and Amber walked in.

She gave Sam a death glare. "If this is an elaborate plot to get out of girls' night I'm locking you in the basement freezer."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh no. A locked freezer. How will I ever escape," she dead panned. Amber hit her on the shoulder.

"It's not her fault, miss. We dropped in without any notice," Steve felt compelled to say.

"I'm sorry, are you..." Amber trailed off first looking at Steve, then Tony, and fully taking in the other occupants of the room. She focused back on Sam. "What did you do now that you actually got the Avengers here?"

"Uh, first thing's first," Sam said. Amber sighed and handed her a five dollar bill. "Second of all, who knew facebook posts were taken seriously? You post one thing about an elaborate plot to take over the world-"

"I'm sorry, what," Clint interrupted.

"Bad sense of humor brought on by boredom and lead paint. You get used to it," Amber explained.

"Right. Why don't you go study for that trig final. Upstairs," Sam said pointedly at Amber, who stuck out her tongue and went upstairs.

"Why did she owe you five bucks," Steve asked. He still couldn't wrap his head around this girl.

"Oh, that. My fortune cookie the other night said 'you will have unexpected visitors'. We decided a while ago that every time we got one that was right we got 5 dollars. Anyway, what exactly can I help you with?"

"We have a few questions for you. For example, where you learned to fight like that," Natasha said.

"Or how you escaped through a closet," Clint added.

Sam nodded to herself for a second before answering. "I taught myself how to fight. Figured a lot of it out through experience. As for pulling a Houdini...it's a gift, you could call it."

"Would you mind explaining that?"

"It developed a few years ago." Sam started to lose her casual appearance as she became more uncomfortable with a subject. "Teleportation, you could call it."

The room was silent for a few beats before Bruce said,"You mean, you can just transport yourself from one place to another?"

She sighed before blinking and suddenly vanished, the air where she used to be appearing sllightly hazy, like it would be above a sidewalk on a hot day. They saw her walk back in from the kitchen and lean in the doorway.

"That explains a bit," Clint said slowly.

"Yep. I also heal pretty fast," she said in a quiet voice.

"How did you get these abilities," Bruce asked while leaning forward. He seemed very thoughtful.

"I can't remember any sort of freak accident or anything. I know when I was seven I fell off my bike and hurt my ankle pretty bad. But before anyone found me it was completely fine. I never told anyone about it."

"And what, you just rode your bike home into the sunset like everything was fine," Tony asked.

"Of course not. I just fell off my bike. I _walked_ it home."

"Interesting," Bruce continued, ignoring Tony. "Do you know anything specific about it?"

"Only that it's something in my circulatory system, but it oxidizes rather quickly."

"Perhaps we can continue this discussion another time," Natasha said. She had made up her mind at this point. "We have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening," Sam said. She wasn't exactly being courteous, but she was nervous. She had a feeling it was less of a proposition and more of a command. It set her on edge.

"How do you feel about joining us," Natasha asked while raising an eyebrow. Everyone's eyes were on Sam.

"I honestly did not see that one coming," Sam said after a moment. "I'm flattered, really, but I don't think I can. I'm not really a 'hero'."

"What do you call what you do in your spare time," Clint asked.

"Extracurricular activities," she replied in exasperation. "I mean, I'm a college student. I'm fine with helping out in my spare time but I never wanted to make a career out of it."

"We can work around that," Natasha replied easily. "We can have you enrolled at NYU right now, no questions asked, in the same classes you're taking now, online even. You'll have plenty of time for school. And SHIELD would pay you. It would be basically what you do now, just in New York, and you get paid to do it. Plus, when you graduate college you'll have made enough to do it debt free."

"Look," Natasha continued before Sam could cut her off," it's not exactly a bad deal. You stay in New York during the week, continue school, go on missions, and you can even pop back home on the weekends unless you're needed. It won't hurt to try one semester."

The room was quiet as Sam processed her arguments. She did have to worry about working off student loans, and she didn't want to put more pressure on her parents. Finally, she let out a deep breath and looked around the room.

"One condition," she said. "One of you gets to explain to Amber."

**A/N: Side note: stupid fanfiction is having issues with the second cat's name. grrr. Yes, I gave Sam some special abilities. Sorry if you didn't agree with that, but in my defense I had it planned out all along. I know it's kind of a slow start to the Steve/Sam part of the story, but they're going to get a few cute little scenes in the next chapter, I promise. I'm all for Steve having one of those sickly sweet, first love types of romance, so I figured it deserved an innocent little start. Thoughts on the subject? Let me know in the reviews. You guys are awesome!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Oh my gosh guys! I'm so excited for this chapter. It's so. Freaking. Adorable. If you're not already a Captain fan, prepare to be. As I told my friend, "I'm gonna make Captain work for it. He earns his meals in this household." I don't normally do romance, but this chapter was so cute to write. My new favorite thing to write. Oh, and this really annoyed me, but fanfiction was having problems last chapter with understanding the second cat's name was Super cali fragilistic expi ala docious. It was all one word, and it's annoying me because it's ACTUALLY MY CAT'S NAME. I think I would know if it was spelled wrong, thanks. Sorry for the mega long chapter, but you'll see what I just had to add on at the end. On with the squeeing!**

Three days after the meeting at Sam's house she was in New York, gazing up at the rather impressive Avengers tower where Stark Enterprises was also held. It was nearly four months after the invasion and looking around you would have a hard time believing it happened at all. Everything was newly repaired and the streets were thriving with crowds. So much so that Sam was almost knocked to the ground a few times. Great. New York would be awesome.

She walked into the lobby, bags in hand, and to a reception desk of sorts. "Good afternoon, welcome to Stark Enterprises," the lady at the desk said. "Do you have an appointment?"

"Um, I think so," Sam said. "The Avengers-"

"I'm sorry," the lady cut her off with a cheery smile. "Stark Enterprises has a strict policy in regards to the Avengers Initiative, and I cannot make any formal statement on the subject. Thank you for your time."

"What? No. Can you just call Mr. Stark or- oh, I know you didn't just press a button for security on me," Sam said. This wasn't really how she thought it would go. Once people saw her as a teenager she lost all credibility.

Two men that resembled rent-a-cops entered the lobby. Sam sighed and grabbed her things.

"For the record," she called out as she exited the building,"I have the ability to kick your asses. I chose not to." The door shut in her face and she turned around to see an amused looking Bruce Banner holding a cup of Starbucks.

"Exactly how much of that did you see," she asked while pushing the bangs out of her face.

"Enough. Here, walk in with me. And next time, maybe go in from the garage," he said while grabbing the door for her. They were almost to the elevator before the receptionist noticed her.

"Excuse me, miss! You were asked to leave-"

"She's with me," Bruce said with a smile.

"Of course, Dr. Banner," the blonde replied while giving Sam a second look. She narrowed her eyes and the spray-tanned, bottle blonde, room temperature IQ-ed receptionist. Just as the elevator doors were closing Sam stuck her tongue out at the woman. Childish? Probably. Satisfying? Definitely.

Bruce did his best to hold in his laughter as they made their way to the top floor. He studied the ceiling corner as if it were suddenly interesting. However, as soon as he heard Sam mutter "tanning booths are directly related to brain cell damage" under her breath his composure slipped and he let out a chuckle, to which she quickly joined in. They were both laughing as the elevator opened and they stepped out into the penthouse, the Avengers' official headquarters.

"Have a little trouble," Tony asked from where he lounged on the couch, making it apparent that the giant flatscreen gave him a live play-by-play of the whole ordeal.

Sam glared at him. "You could have jumped in any time."

"Yes but there was nothing good on tv. Popcorn," he offered while holding out the bag.

After that the day was pretty much normal. She took a tour of the building (after being given proper access and an ID card) and was introduced to Pepper Potts. Her room was on the same floor as Steve's, and most of the rest of the floor was taken up by the gym. Her room was actually a suite. There was a nice sitting area with a flatscreen and a desk in the corner. One door led into a very nice looking bathroom, another one to a tastefully decorated bedroom.

The tour took a surprising amount of time, even for such a large building. She only saw the main floors she needed. If she didn't get lost at some point in the first week she was going to buy herself a treat.

They got six pizzas for dinner- which was apparently not enough. Sam would have felt like the problem, but she only ate three slices. It got to the point where Tony and Clint argued over the last slice. When the obvious outcome of Clint wrestling Tony to the ground was over the crowd turned their attention to the last box. It was empty. Natasha sat eating the half finished slice of pepperoni pizza, eyebrow raised. All in all, it was an interesting start.

Sam had issues sleeping. Therefore, she wasn't surprised to wake up multiple times. At six she finally gave up and called it. The sun was just beginning to rise. She paused while stretching, sure that she had heard a thump in the other room. Yep, there it was again. She grabbed a throwing knife and a nearby book and threw open her bedroom door.

Steve was just about to head into the gym for a pre-breakfast work out when he heard it. A banging noise followed by a startled yelp from Sam's room. Fully alert, he ran to her suite and pulled the door open.

Sam was under attack, all right. A pigeon swooped low around her head while she tried to bat it away with a book. He grabbed a blanket from a nearby chair and threw it over the bird, making it land in a bundle on the floor. He picked it up and released it out of her window, which had been shut.

"Did you leave your window open," Steve asked as he looked around. There were a few shoes lying around that looked out of place. Sam had probably thrown them at the angry bird.

"No. Little demon. I woke up with it flying around and tried to grab it but it went berserk. It started dive bombing me. I have no clue how that thing got in," she said while pulling her long hair back. Having just woken up her hair was a mess and she hadn't had a chance to get dressed.

"I could hazard a guess," Steve said. Stark. He would bet money on it. Just then he became very aware of the fact that she was still in her pajamas, which consisted of a tank top and short shorts. He quickly decided to focus on her face.

Sam noticed Steve blush slightly as he looked at her, but decided to take the higher route and pretend he didn't just check her out. Of course to a guy from the 40's she probably looked like a slut. In her defense she wasn't exactly expecting company.

"Um, I'm just gonna go to the gym now," Steve stated awkwardly.

"Right. I'm going to get dressed. I might join you, if you don't mind of course," Sam tacked on. She had every intention of heading there when she woke up but it felt awkward after the whole bird incident.

"Of course," Steve said with a smile as he left her room. None of the rest of the team got up this early voluntarily. It was a nice change to have someone else to work out with so early.

Ten minutes later Sam showed up looking slightly more presentable in gym shorts and an old t-shirt. It actually worked out pretty well. Steve helped Sam perfect her boxing skills, and then she kicked his ass mercilessly in one-on-one. To be fair, there were no hits to the crotch on Sam's part and Steve was holding back. The idea of fighting a woman, even in mock combat, put him on edge to make sure he didn't hurt her.

They called it quits around eight so they could shower and eat breakfast. Sam wasn't sure what exactly the dress code was so she settled for black jean capris and a cute baby doll top. She liked it because it was feminine and flirty yet she was still able to drop a few idiots in it. She had done so on several occasions.

Upon entering the kitchen she pointed at Tony and said in a menacing tone, "You."

"Alright, alright," Tony said while thowing up his hands, "Star boy beat you to the punch. I'm sorry. No more hazing the newbie and in the future live animals will not be used."

Sam continued to glare as she stalked towards him. Then she bipassed him completely and grabbed herself a glass of juice while smiling.

"You know, for a midget, you're awfully scary," Tony said as he sighed in relief. "I thought you were a happy folk that sang and were emissaries of Munchkinland for the Lollipop Guild."

"First of all, a short joke from you is a joke in itself. You're, like, three inches taller, if that. Secondly, the lady munchkins represent the Lullaby League. Everyone knows that. Thirdly, I got woken up by a flying rat swooping at my head, so you can go ahead down the yellow brick road and look for a heart, Tin Man."

"I don't even think 'thirdly' is a word," Tony responded. The rest of the team was seated around the kitchen, watching the two as if it were a tennis match.

"You could have stopped that sentence at 'I don't even think'," Sam said.

"My God, it's like having two Tonys," Bruce breathed. Well, that wasn't quite fair, Steve thought. She didn't have a few of Tony's more annoying habits. Instead she had her own that were far nicer.

"I would settle for a passable comparison of calling me a younger, female, nicer, less slutty version of Tony," Sam said.

"Less slutty," Tony exclaimed in mock outrage. "Never once in my life have I worn a miniskirt!" Everyone gave him a blank stare. "Never twice in my life have I worn a miniskirt."

"And breakfast is now a little too weird for me," Clint said as he pushed away from the table.

After everyone finished eating Clint and Natasha disappeared to...who knows where. No one actually recalled them leaving. It was like living with ninjas.

Pepper Potts appeared and had a brief, but warm, conversation with them before she dragged Tony off to some business meeting. Steve was called away to handle a paperwork mishap for SHIELD and Sam had to practically shoo Bruce down to his lab. It was clearly where he wanted to be but chivalry kept him from abandoning her. In fairness he asked if she would join him, but Sam politely declined on the pretense of figuring out her college schedule. It was an enticing offer, but she thought she might need to set up an escape route or else resign herself to hours spent in a college lecture-like setting.

It turned out most of her classes had been transferred to online. She didn't even have to worry about homework this week. With nothing better to do, Sam found herself roaming the halls, occasionally doing a barrel roll while humming the Mission Impossible theme song. Who wouldn't?

In the end she went back to the kitchen. Out of boredom she searched the cabinets and found all of the basic baking ingredients, to her mild surprise. Sam smiled, knowing how she would spend the next few hours. She pulled out everything she needed and set up her favorite playlist on her phone.

"Excuse me, miss," JARVIS interrupted. Sam jumped. It was kind of startling to hear a voice from nowhere. "If you wish, I can sync to your playlist and put it on the sound system."

"That would be wonderful. Thank you, JARVIS," Sam smiled. Her music filled the room as she began making some French bread.

Which is exactly how Steve walked in half an hour later and found Sam with her back to him, kneading dough and singing along to 'Call Me Maybe'. He knew he should probably announce his presence but he couldn't help it. He had originally come up here with the intention of talking to her. As team leader, he felt it was his job to get to know all of his team. For instance, now he knew Sam liked to bake and had a decent singing voice.

Sam's sixth sense was tingling. She turned around and caught Steve full on staring at her. Both turned a similar shade of pink as they broke eye contact.

"How, uh, how long were you standing there," Sam asked while looking at the floor.

"Not long at all," Steve assured her, embarassed at getting caught. Good. He had missed her belting out to One Direction. That was all she cared about.

He looked like a puppy with it's tail between it's legs. She didn't miss him eyeing the exit. "Do you think you could help me knead this dough," Sam asked.

"Of course," Steve automatically responded. Sam inwardly thanked his chivalrous ways. They worked together and talked about random things as JARVIS discreetly lowered the music volume to background noise. In a few minutes all of the awkwardness was gone.

Sam was just starting a pound cake batter when Steve finished kneading the dough and set it to the side to rise. He looked around to see what else he could do.

"If you want I can show you how to use the blender. I make the best pound cake anyone has ever tried," Sam offered. Steve smiled in response and stepped closer so they were both next to the mixer. She showed Steve how much flour to add and turned to the side to measure the baking powder. She turned around just in time to see him add the entire five cups of flour into the still running mixer.

A cloud of flour rose from the mixer. It got all over Steve's shirt, but mostly it got all over Samantha's face since she was shorter and closer. She slowly reached out and shut the mixer off.

"I am so-," Steve started to apologize in earnest. He was cut off by a handful of flour thrown at his face.

"Flour fight," Sam called out as she grabbed another handful and raced around the counter laughing.

Steve hesitated for a second. He was Captain America, team leader. The serious thought was ended by the part of his brain that caught Sam's infectious laughter. He grabbed a fistful of flour and grinned.

For the next three minutes, chaos ensued. Shouts and laughter carried from the kitchen as puffs of flour erupted in the air. Both sides fought valiantly, but as Sam chased after Steve she slipped on a stray pile of flour. She lunged forward and caught on to Steve's leg, right near his waist.

Steve, who had been empty handed and backing away, reached out and caught hold of her at the elbows and dragged her back up. If Steve held on to her for a little too long or Sam's smile was a little too out of breath, neither noticed.

Eventually Steve let go and by mutual consent Sam finished the cake batter while Steve cleaned up the kitchen floors. Once Sam was done she helped wipe down the counters.

Twenty minutes later the cake and bread were in the oven, the kitchen was clean, and Sam and Steve were relatively cleaned up aside from their clothes. They were doing dishes, Steve insisting on washing while Sam rinsed and dried, when Clint and Natasha walked in.

"Something smells good," Clint said.

"Thanks. Steve helped me make French bread and pound cake," Sam replied.

"Uh huh. Did you also get in a fight with the Pillsbury dough boy," Natasha asked. Sam and Steve looked down at their outfits as they put the last mixing bowl away.

"The mixer has issues," Sam shrugged, but both SHIELD agents caught the implied lie. "We better go change." Her and Steve made a quick dash to the elevator, but not so quickly that both assassins didn't notice the distinct, small white handprint curiously close to Steve's butt.

Clint and Natasha exchanged grins as they headed over to the living room. They agreed to do whatever it took to see those two grinning like idiots again.

**A/N: I apologize for the lack of foreseeable story plot, but I wanted to establish fluffiness first. Once they start dating there will be problems. Typical, amirite? By the way, if I ever have a really cute flour fight with a dreamy man, you can bet I'm marrying him. No questions asked. Like their cute little budding romance? Mad I cheated them out of the perfect little kiss? Let me know. ;) You guys rock.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, in a hopefully not overly cliched kind of way I'm going to keep throwing Sam and Steve together, much like how I play the Sims. "Oh, you two don't like each other? Too bad. NOW KISS." - When I keep pairing them together until they admit defeat. JK, Sam and Steve are so meant for each other. Conversely, I will die alone (with plummuffins and about 20 cats) because I will never find my own Captain. *sobs* Oh well. Thanks to everyone who enjoyed the pigeon story, it was based on true events. I was at a friend's house, came home, my windows had mysteriously opened, and I got one hell of a surprise in my room. Oh Sam, I feel your pain. Sorry this took so long, but a lot of stuff came up and then my computer shut down when I was almost done, so of course I had to start all over again. Grrr. To make up for a few missed updates I made this chapter super long. And on with the story! Disclaimer: Marvel is no longer accepting my calls, so I still don't own the Avengers yet. I do not condone under age drinking, but Sam of course heals quickly and therefore doesn't really get drunk, plus she's in a safe environment and won't be driving.**

The rest of the afternoon Sam spent shut up in her room, trying to get some form of work done. She had turned on some background music and was taking notes on the next chapter for her geography quiz. It was so hard to pay attention though. Her mind kept wandering as she doodled in the margins of her notebook. 'Call Me Maybe' started to play for the second time that day, and Sam started to smile, thinking back on what happened that morning. It was nice to see Steve so care-free and laughing. Normally he looked so serious.

"Excuse me, Miss," JARVIS interrupted as he stopped her music. "Dinner is now ready up on the top floor."

"Thank you, JARVIS. I'll head up there now," Sam replied. She didn't know what it was about the AI that always had her using complete manners. It was probably the British accent.

Apparently Sam was the last person to arrive. She took the only open seat between Natasha and Steve as Pepper was setting everything else down on the table and took her seat next to Tony. Sam noticed that the bread they had made earlier had been cut up and arranged neatly on one of the plates.

"Everything looks amazing, Pepper," Sam said.

"Thank you. I heard you and Steve were baking earlier. I can't wait to try your bread," she replied. Natasha and Clint exchanged a smirk, which Bruce caught. He gave Clint a questioning stare, to which Clint mouthed 'later'. It was too late though; most of the table had already caught on. Bruce really needed a lesson in subtlety.

"Clint and I went to SHIELD today. Fury has a group mission for the whole team to go on tomorrow," Natasha changed the subject.

"Oh, that quick huh. Not that I'm nervous or anything, but I kind of figured there would be some sort of initiation process. You know, taking a penny from the Sensei's palm, climbing a giant pole, something like that."

"Well, you'll mostly be in the background. You won't see much action," Clint said. Sam stared at him. "I mean, you'll be in the secondary team." Clint tried to backpedal.

"Back up duty. Gotcha," Sam said.

"Speaking of team things, don't forget the Masquerade Benefit Ball a few nights from now. The benefit for the Avengers," Tony clarified when no one responded. "Seriously, I go to all the trouble to plan a party and no one cares. That hurts, guys. My parties are fun." Sam laughed at everyone else's reaction.

"Not so fast, Chuckles. You're going too," Tony told her.

"Um, wait a minute. I thought part of the deal was that I stay a secret as long as possible. Doesn't showing up at a ball for the Avengers kind of defeat that purpose," Sam asked.

"There will be plenty of other people there. You can pretend to be some rich benefactor's daughter. And everyone is wearing a mask. You're going, Cinderella." Sam sighed. She would go for an hour or so and then slip away.

"It will be just like prom," Bruce told her.

"Great. The punch will be spiked and condom wrappers will cover the floor," Sam replied.

"Prom has gotten very different from when I went to school apparently," Bruce said. The conversation continued to flow on from there as everyone at their dinner. After the pound cake was reduced to crumbs Tony got up and made an announcement.

"Okay, everyone. Since we're doing a team mission tomorrow with a new member I think it's time for a little group bonding," he said as he walked towards the living room.

"That's actually a nice idea Tony," Steve said. Then Tony approached the bar and started grabbing crystal bottles. "I take that back. Come on, Stark. Some of us aren't even old enough to drink." He looked pointedly at Sam.

"Don't worry, it's a drinking game. She'll only have to do a couple of shots at most," Tony said. "Think you can handle that much liquor?"

Sam rolled her eyes. "I'm not a light weight. It's the opposite. My body regenerates too quickly, so I have to drink about twenty shots or so for my liver to try to play catch up."

"I feel like I've been issued a challenge," Tony grinned as he set the bottles on the coffee table and went back for glasses. Natasha and Clint sat around the table. They figured that as far as team exercises went, they could do a lot worse than getting drunk. Bruce however tried backing towards the elevator.

"I think I'll just head down to the lab," he said.

"What's the matter, Banner? Afraid of getting smashed," Tony asked.

"Afraid of _you _getting smashed," he replied.

"You can take a sip of beer instead of a shot if that makes you happy," Tony said. Bruce sighed and grabbed a bottle of beer. He wasn't going to win this one. Even if he made a clean getaway to the lab Tony would annoy him for a week straight.

"This still isn't a good idea," Steve started to protest.

Sam leaned over to him and whispered, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Tony will most likely get drunk in the first five minutes and we can all make our escapes." Steve resigned himself to accept this fact and took the seat next to Sam on the couch to make sure she didn't get too drunk. Then she raised her volume so the rest of the group could hear her say, "I wasn't part of a sorority for a reason. Living here is going to make me fail college."

"Oh please, I was nineteen when I graduated college and all I ever did was party and get drunk. Then again, I am a genius. You'll probably fail," Tony said as he passed out drinks.

"Hey now. I used to be a genius like you, but then I took an arrow to the knee," Sam said. Anyone who got the reference (mainly Tony, Bruce, and Clint) started to laugh. Clint had an entirely unprecedented reaction and laughed so hard he had tears. Steve obviously didn't get the joke. He narrowed his eyes at the archer, wondering what he had to do with it.

"It's a pop culture reference to a game," Sam explained before Steve could accuse Clint. "I didn't actually get hit in the knee, not that Clint could ever hit me." Clint sobered right up at that.

"Are you saying that it's impossible for me to hit you? Because believe me, I can," Clint said. Not really the best thing to say. Before Sam or Steve, who was starting to get mad at his choice of words, could respond Bruce cut in.

"Okay, I think it's time to start drinking," he announced.

"Good idea, Bruce. I think we'll play 'I Have Never' since that's a game everyone knows. Why don't you start if you're so enthusiastic all of a sudden," Tony said.

Bruce looked directly at Tony. This was all his fault. "I have never worn a miniskirt." Both Tony and Natasha took a shot. Clint glanced over at Sam.

"What," she said defensively. "Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean it's required to wear. You're a guy, that doesn't mean you've worn a kilt or a Speedo. I'm more interested as to why Tony had to drink to that."

"Good point. Do we have to explain our answers," Bruce asked. He seemed nervous. Sam wondered what the doctor would be worried about people finding out.

"Sure, why the hell not. Well, I was in Tokyo and got absolutely wasted with this hot," Tony broke off his sentence when he looked over at Steve, who was still not enjoying this idea. "Anyway, I woke up alone and naked in the hotel stairwell and the only clothes nearby were my t-shirt and her miniskirt. I think I pulled it off quite nicely. And now it's my turn. I have never...what was it? Had a goat in my closet."

Sam rolled her eyes as she took the shot that was made directly for her. "I suppose you want the story for that? It was a few months ago. Our neighbor's 21st birthday. We borrowed a goat from our friend's parent's farm and Amber and I used this pink hairspray and decorated it. It was completely safe and the goat was tame, so it's not like it was bad. The goat's name was Rainbow Jack. Then we put on a party hat that looked like a horn for a unicorn and just when we were about to put it in her yard she came over, so I hid it in the hall closet really quick. Then Amber distracted her and I ran the thing over to her backyard." Most of the people in the room were giving her curious looks, trying to decide if she was serious or not.

"Sir, sorry to interrupt but you have an important business call," JARVIS announced. Tony stood up to go take the call.

The remaining people in the room glanced around at each other. "Scatter," Bruce suggested. It wasn't long before Tony came back and found out that everyone had disappeared into their different hiding places within the tower.

The next morning Sam woke up at six and joined Steve in the gym once again. They got so absorbed in what they were doing that they didn't stop until it was almost nine. Which worked out pretty well for Natasha and Clint. They wound up being the first two in the kitchen, followed by Bruce.

"What were you two up to last night at the table anyway," Bruce suddenly remembered.

"Don't you see it," Natasha asked. "Steve and Sam like each other."

"Is this grade school," Bruce said. It was too early for this.

Natasha sighed. "Oh come on. The way they look at each other, something has to be going on. Yesterday me and Clint walked in on them in the kitchen and they were up to something in there."

"I, for one, think it's nice. Steve could use something nice. And hopefully Sam can get him to loosen up a little," Clint said.

"I don't know. It could be nothing," Bruce said.

"You just pay attention today and tell me that you don't see it," Natasha responded. "You'll be trying to get them together just as much as us."

"I just want to drink my coffee," Bruce said. He really didn't want to get sucked into this. In fact, he was debating whether or not to mention it to Steve, but Natasha was giving him a pretty serious glare. Something told him that if Steve even suspected something he was the first one Natasha would go after. Great. Just then Pepper walked in and grabbed a mug from over the counter.

"Pepper, you see it don't you," Natasha asked. "There has to be something going on between Steve and Sam."

"Oh, I agree," Pepper said as she added creamer to her cup. "There's something there. Where are they now?"

"They're still training in the gym together," Clint said. It appeared that was incriminating evidence in itself. Or they were, because the elevator dinged open and Sam stepped out and headed straight over to get herself a cup of coffee. She wasn't a big coffee drinker, but it was one of those mornings. She couldn't get a lot of sleep last night. Damn insomnia.

As she stirred some cream into her cup she took in the tension in the room. Most people wouldn't notice it, but four years of high school had taught her that she just walked in on them talking about her. She took a sip of her coffee and frowned. What were they talking about? The mission? She supposed it was normal for them to be concerned about having her join the team and go without much experience with them. She didn't take it personally. She knew that after they got out there she would prove she could handle it; she may not have had much experience working with a team, but she did things like this as her hobby.

"Something wrong," Pepper asked innocently when she saw Sam frown.

"Needs more sugar," she replied easily as she added another spoonful. Unless they brought up whatever was bothering them she wasn't going to talk about it. It didn't really bother her anyway.

Steve entered and grabbed himself a container of yogurt as he joined in the morning conversation. As a rule, they avoided talking about anything important until breakfast was over. It wasn't like anyone was awake enough to process it.

Tony walked into the living room and they saw him turn with his back to the kitchen and mess with something on the table. He was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt, which was a little too casual for their day. Then he turned around. There was a hole in the shirt cut perfect for the arc reactor and beneath that what looked like a barber shop pole. He was a light house.

"Very cute," he said to Sam with a grin. "I'll admit, you got me. It's funny. But I'm going to need my clothes back after breakfast." The group laughed as they realized it was Sam's retaliation to the pigeon incident.

They went straight to SHIELD after Tony changed and had breakfast. "It's nice to meet you, Samantha," Fury said as he shook her hand. The girl was interesting. Usually new recruits were already terrified at the sight of his imposing presence and eye patch, but this girl was unaffected. He knew she had a back bone based off of the videos he watched, but it was impressive to see. Not a lot of people could look Director Fury in the eye with the same casualness she affected.

"You can call me Sam," she replied. She knew she was being judged based off of her first impression, so she tried to be polite yet still show she had a spine. She didn't want anyone to think she was a suck up or else too afraid. After that the meeting went quickly. There was a terrorist organization based an hour or so away that SHIELD had recently identified. They had a nice little compound with about seventy men. The Avengers were supposed to infiltrate, steal their files, and then uproot them. Terrorist organizations were tricky, like root canals. You had to make sure you got it all, or else it could continue to spread.

The flight on the quinjet was a new experience for Sam. There was easy conversation throughout the flight, but there was an undercurrent to it. They all knew what was coming and were trying to avoid any sort of serious conversation, instead focusing on random things such as the benefit ball, which Tony was still going on about. Sam went with it; she had never been a part of a team, and even though she was close with Amber and had a huge group of friends she had never talked to any of them with the mindset of going into battle right after. It was interesting.

However, as Sam was positioned up in the rafters opposite of Clint, she quickly grew bored. Normally, she was in and out. Even when she wasn't immediately attacking she was doing recon, not just sitting somewhere. She looked down and spied where Natasha and Steve were hidden in the large main room of the center building. It was mostly an open space, with a few private offices to the side. That's where Tony was, busily hacking into their computer system. Bruce was once again outside. He didn't want to be too close until the fireworks started, afraid the Hulk might make an early appearance.

Sam started to hum to herself as she watched an angry looking man walk in. He must be one of the big guys, because the other men in the building scrambled around like ants when he walked in. She was really wishing she had thought to bring a crossword puzzle or something.

"Who's humming the Imperial March," Tony asked through the comms system.

"Oops," Sam replied.

"You doing okay over there," Clint asked.

Sam rolled her eyes even though no one could see the gesture. "I'm bored. By this time I could have been done and out of here. If Tony moves any slower I'm going to get him a walker."

"Hey now, cradle baby. Just because you have a short attention span doesn't mean that I should have to pay for it," Tony said.

"Guys," Steve pleaded through the earpiece. "Can you please be serious about the mission for five minutes."

"Steve. It's me. I take nothing seriously. You should know this by now," Sam said. "I kind of thought that was obvious."

"Boredom over. A big caravan of cars just pulled in," Bruce said from his vantage point outside. "Looks like they're about to get the party started."

"Yay. I love parties," Sam said.

"I knew you wanted to go to the benefit," Tony said as he finished up hacking their system.

"Oh please. I don't even have a dress for it. And a masked ball for superheroes. Could you be any more cliched if you tried," Sam said. Maybe it was because she was looking for Tony to reappear as she waited for his reply, but she was the first to notice the two men who turned the corner and started heading directly towards the office Tony was in. Acting quickly, Sam teleported down there and took out both men with a few throwing knives before they touched the handle of the door. Sam was back up in the rafters before anyone else but Clint took in what happened. He had seen her disappear and shot her a questioning look when she got back.

Tony slipped out of the office and almost tripped over the bodies. "Sam," he said like he was lecturing a five year old,"what have I told you about leaving your toys sitting out." There were knives sticking out of their backs. Whoops.

The rest of it went according to plan. Sam and Clint stayed up in the rafters and shot down below while Steve and Natasha fought on the ground. Tony flew around in his Iron Man suit and picked off whoever he could. Once most of the work was done Hulk came in and destroyed the compound.

"Who wants ice cream," Tony asked as the last building crumbled to the ground behind them.

They had a quick debriefing at SHIELD before heading back to the tower. Sam was just settling into a spot on the couch when Pepper walked in.

"Hey Pepper," Sam called.

"Sam, I was just looking for you. I figured we could go shopping. I'll take you somewhere to get a dress for the benefit," Pepper said. Sam perked up a little. Shopping wasn't her favorite thing, but at least this time she would have some fun. In the short time she had been here she had started to like Pepper. She was genuinely nice and more like an older sister to her.

"Sure, just let me grab my stuff," Sam said as she got up.

"You won't need it," Pepper said with a smile. "I've got Tony's credit card." Sam grinned. Now she was really looking forward to shopping.

Downstairs Natasha knocked on Steve's door and stuck her head in. "Hey Steve, can you join me in the gym?"

"Sure," he replied. "Just let me get changed." He was always willing to help his team mates.

A few minutes later he walked through the gym doors and turned to see Natasha shut the door and lock it.

"Uh, Natasha," he said. He wasn't sure why the door just got locked, but he had a feeling it wasn't good. She smiled back at him. Really not good.

"The benefit is in a few days," she said. "And now, I'm going to teach you to dance."

**A/N: Sorry for how long it was. I got carried away by the feels. Anyway, one of my friends gave me a review of my story that was, shall we say, 'critical', in nicest terms. At first I was upset by her criticizing my use of an OC and "lack of refined writing skills", but then I realized something. All of these wonderful strangers have read my story and favorited it and left amazing reviews. Furthermore, I enjoy writing it. So as long as you all are willing to read, I am more than willing to continue posting chapters for you. On with the story!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I am unapologetic about the length of this chapter. Once again, thank you all for those of you that have continued reading, as well as all of the new favorites. And reviews, of course. A special thanks to LiebenMadchen, who caught one of Sam's character traits I was going for. Sam is trying really hard to seem like a Mary Sue in front of everyone, but I promise she's not. In a few chapters Steve is going to discover that himself. Disclaimer: I have been asked to cease and desist my frequent calls to Marvel. Apparently they're touchy about the whole "rights to the Avengers" thing, so it's still their's. Oh, and one more thing. plummuffins drew some wonderful fan art of Sam and Steve, so here's the link to it if you all are curious to see her amazing talent. plummuffins,deviantart,com/art/Steve-Rogers-and-Samantha-Harper-319405479 If anyone else draws any fan art I will get super excited and post it on here. ^^**

"Try this one," Pepper called to Sam over the racks of dresses. They were at a nice formal wear store. Pepper carried a few dresses in her arms as she held up a gold ball gown.

Sam smiled at her choice. She already had several dresses of her own. "Alright. Let's start trying them on."

The next twenty minutes were spent in a mini fashion show. Sam tried on dresses in different colors and styles and did a little runway walk for Pepper, who would make comments on how the dress moved or what jewelry to wear. She was halfway through the pile of dresses when she tried the next one on. As she zipped it up she looked in the mirror and smiled.

"This one," she announced as she exited the changing room and did a turn for Pepper.

"I couldn't agree more," she said. "Now all you need are some heels and a mask."

Back at the Avengers Tower, Steve was stuck in 'Blue Danube' hell. The waltz tune played on repeat as Natasha tried instructing him again. He actually wasn't too bad at it, but Natasha was a perfectionist.

"Honestly, Steve. I don't know how you've survived without knowing how to dance," Natasha said.

"It was never really necessary," Steve replied. She was starting to get into dangerous waters now. He really didn't want to bring up the memories.

"At least you know now," was all Natasha replied.

A few hours later Natasha was finally satisfied with Steve's dancing skills. He left the gym without preamble. Natasha was nice as a teammate and all, but as a dance instructor she was terrifying.

Dinner was served when Pepper and Sam got home. Sam quickly hid her dress and accessories in her closet before heading up to join the others around the table.

"Where's the dress," Natasha asked. "We don't get to see it?"

"What's the point of a masquerade if you know who I am? You'll just have to figure it out," Sam teased.

"First person to find her gets a prize," Tony immediately stated.

"I'm not Waldo," Sam objected.

"You mean it's not red and white striped," Tony asked.

"Nope it's- oh,oh! I see what you're trying to do there," Sam mocked. Like she would fall for that.

"Play fair, Tony. No cheating," Clint said.

"Oh, whatever Legolas," he replied.

"Great. Now I want to watch Lord of the Rings," Sam said.

"No," Tony groaned. "Everyone has seen it about a million times."

"But they're my favorite movies," Sam protested.

"I haven't seen them," Steve pointed out.

"Exactly," Sam said. "How can we deny Steve the pure magic that is the Lord of the Rings_?_"

"You're going to keep this up until we watch it, aren't you," Tony asked.

"I'm prepared to start a poetic monologue," Sam replied.

"Ugh. Fine," Tony complained. "We'll watch it."

"Hi, Pot. It's nice to meet you. You can call me Kettle," Sam said. Tony stuck out his tongue.

After dinner they all piled into the communal living room and JARVIS started the trilogy. Somehow, Sam and Steve ended up on the couch together. When the Fellowship ended Bruce politely excused himself and dragged Tony down to the lab with him. Natasha then asked Pepper if she would help pick out jewelry to match her dress for tomorrow night, and the two headed off to Natasha's room.

They were ten minutes into the Two Towers when Clint got a text from Natasha. _Clint! What are you doing? Get down here!_

_But this is my favorite part,_ he texted back.

_I had to convince Bruce to disappear with Tony. If you're not down here in five minutes I'm going to physically drag you from the room._

_Won't that be a little obvious?_

The next response he got was a picture text. He opened it and an image of his bow sitting next to a can of pink paint popped onto his screen. Clint quickly slipped out of the room with his phone pressed to his ear.

Sam idly noted the other occupants leave the room, but didn't think much of it. Group bonding didn't really successfully happen unless they were shooting at something. Likewise, Steve was completely wrapped up in the movie. He didn't notice a thing.

Sam had shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch. She loved these movies. It reminded her of movie marathons with her family, in more peaceful times. And of course, the Great Popcorn War between her and her sister during the final battle. Sam smiled at the memories.

Steve was watching the movies in awe. It was absolutely amazing. The second movie bled into the third, and he got caught up in the battles. He couldn't believe how realistic the giant spider was. When the final scene was over and the credits ended he glanced over at Sam.

She was curled up on the opposite side of the couch, asleep, with a small smile on her face. Steve wasn't sure what to do. Waking her up seemed like an option, but he didn't want to disturb her. Finally he settled for grabbing a spare blanket and tucking it around her. As he left he had JARVIS turn off the lights.

Sam jerked awake at two in the morning with no clue where she was. Oh, right. The living room. She had actually managed to fall asleep during the movie. Then she had a nightmare of running through a labyrinth of hallways. It was so realistic that her heart still beat too fast. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

Her right hand was wet. She looked down on the floor and saw a bowl of water. Tony. She sighed and moved the dish to the sink before going down to her own room.

The next morning Sam was unusually chipper in the gym. "You seem happy today," Steve noted.

"Yep. I just heard a great joke last night," Sam replied.

"Do I get to hear it," Steve asked.

"You will. Later," Sam laughed.

Everyone was present at breakfast except Tony. Normally he stumbled in late, but breakfast was over and he still wasn't there. "Where's Tony," Bruce finally asked Pepper.

She rolled her eyes. "He has the day off for the benefit tonight, so he's sleeping in like a teenager." Sam started to laugh as she put her empty bowl into the dishwasher and headed off to the elevator.

"Should we be concerned," Bruce asked. That laugh sounded a little too devious to him. The rest of the team just shrugged in response.

Some time later Steve was sitting in the living room on the couch while watching the Discovery channel to help get him up to date. Suddenly Sam rounded the corner, vaulted over the back of the couch and ended up lying down with her head resting on a very surprised Steve's lap.

"Oh, hey Steve," Sam said out of breath. "Just pretend I'm not here."

Before Steve could respond Tony came barreling in and stood ten feet behind the couch, catching his breath. His hair was the exact same shade of red as his Iron Man suit.

"Spangles, have you seen Sam," he asked. Sam looked up at Steve and shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen her," Steve said. "What happened to your hair?" Tony glared at him and left the room.

Sam sat up and grinned. "Thanks."

"What did you do," Steve asked.

"Well, I woke up with my hand in a bowl of water, so I snuck into Tony's room and dyed his hair. Don't worry, it washes out," she said as she got up. "I'm going to go get ready for tonight. See you later."

Sam disappeared into her room for the rest of the afternoon and Pepper forbid Tony, whose hair was back to normal, from getting revenge while he had the benefit to worry about. They were all dressed and ready to go on time and climbed into a limo. Sam, of course, was going separately.

Once they showed up the bet to find Sam started. In the end, Steve spotted her first. She had on a stunning, deep purple, floor length strapless gown with layers of delicate ruffles. Her long brown hair cascaded in curls around a glittery silver butterfly mask that covered the top half of her face.

Of course, the Avengers weren't supposed to hang around her all night or someone might get suspicious, so they kept their distance. Steve kept an eye on her though. It felt weird for him to have a teammate separated from them like that.

Sam spent most of her time near the bar drinking a soda, because there wasn't much else to do. After a while a man in a black half mask who looked a few years older than her joined her and they had a nice conversation.

Steve watched as the man chatted with Sam. That was when he noticed Sam distracted by another couple as the man in the black mask poured something into Sam's soda.

"He just put something into Sam's drink," Steve announced to Bruce.

"Are you sure," Bruce asked.

"Positive," Steve said as he began trying to cross the dance floor full of couples to reach the bar.

Sam grabbed her drink and began to raise her glass when suddenly she wobbled on her three inch heels. She went off balance and ended up drenching the black masked man with her nearly full glass.

"What the hell! This suit is Gucci," he yelled.

Sam leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "You have two options. You can either excuse yourself like a gentleman and leave the premises or you can wait until Captain America," she pointed at Steve as he crossed the dance floor, "gets over here and I tell him you spiked my drink."

"Good night," was all the reply she got before he disappeared. Steve walked up to her.

"Are you alright," he asked.

"Everything has been taken care of," Sam smiled. "Thank you for the assistance."

"Would you like to dance," Steve asked before he could stop himself.

"I'd love to," Sam said, surprised.

They walked out to the dance floor and joined the half finished song that was still playing. It finished and Steve started to pull away when a new slow song came on. Sam stopped him.

"Please just one more dance. This is one of my favorite songs," Sam said. It was 'Iris' by Goo Goo Dolls. Steve just smiled in response and put one hand on her hip, which was only slightly awkward, and took her right hand in his as she rested her left hand on his shoulder.

Bruce smiled as he watched Steve and Sam slowly turn on the dance floor. Yes, he did see what Natasha meant.

When the song ended Sam smiled up at Steve. "Thank you."

"Of course," Steve said. They both paused for a second, each waiting for the other to say something. Finally, Sam took a step back and walked away. Steve ran a hand through his hair, knowing he had just missed his chance.

The rest of the evening passed by in a blur, but as Sam drifted off to sleep in bed later that night, 'Iris' played softly on repeat on her iPhone.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, normally I make you guys wait at least a full 24 hours at least before posting a new chapter, but this is an exception. I just had to get this out because it's one of my most favorite scenes. Thank you so much to everyone who favorites and reviews this story. You guys seriously keep me going. Disclaimer: I sadly don't own the Avengers yet. If I did, you could bet Sam would be in the next movie. Seriously Marvel, I'm willing to share MY RIGHTS to Sam if you want her. Just saying.**

Sam headed straight up to the kitchen that morning instead of going to the gym. She felt like she was chickening out, but she didn't know exactly what happened between her and Steve last night. Therefore, she went to the kitchen around seven and started making cinnamon rolls from scratch. The action kept her preoccupied enough to not worry about what had happened, although as she was measuring out the flour she smiled as she remembered the flour fight she had with Steve.

Steve headed in to the gym a little late that morning. He noticed Sam wasn't there. It was odd, considering she normally got here on time every morning to work out, but it wasn't like she had set plans. He thought back to last night, and how he had missed his chance. He wondered what Sam had thought of it. Shaking his head, he attacked the punching bag with renewed force. It was useless to worry over it.

Natasha was one of the first people up into the kitchen and she smelled the cinnamon rolls baking in the oven. "Oh my god, that smells amazing."

"Thank you. They're almost done," Sam said as she made the icing for them.

"I thought you would be in the gym this morning," Natasha commented as she took a seat at the table and watched her work.

"Oh, I just woke up and had a really bad craving for cinnamon rolls, so I figured I would just come up here and make them early," Sam said. She tried to sound casual about it, but she had hesitated a moment too long. Natasha digested this. From what she had seen last night, the two had had a good time dancing together, but then had avoided each other since then. She wondered who had done what.

Any further conversation was cut off as Sam started the mixer, which was thankfully loud enough that it kept Natasha from continuing to speak. She may have overbeat the frosting, but she didn't stop until Pepper, Clint, and Bruce were all in the room. She figured it was safe enough then. The others eyed her curiously, so she made sure to put on a cheery smile as she pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the oven and started to ice them.

Steve walked in to the kitchen just as the cinnamon rolls were deemed cool enough to start eating. He took a seat between Bruce and Pepper before it could be taken and helped himself to a roll as everyone else did. Tony entered the kitchen and was his usual grouchy self until he got his coffee.

The rest of the day Sam spent hiding down in the lab with Bruce. Or rather, running tests. Bruce was curious about what exactly was in Sam's blood. He noticed her wince as he took a sample of her blood with a syringe. "Are you alright," He asked.

"Yep. Just not too fond of needles," Sam said while looking at the ceiling. "You can shoot at me, try to blow me up, throw a machete at my face. The second you come at me with a needle it gets personal."

Bruce just chuckled a little. "Who would throw a machete?"

"The better question is why they thought it was a valid weapon to use against me," She said.

The rest of the time was spent with Bruce running all sorts of tests and Sam using her high school education level of science to identify various pieces of equipment. Science wasn't her favorite subject, but she had gotten an A in all of her classes and liked physics.

Steve spent his day in a similar fashion of avoiding other team members. He actually went so far as to leave the tower. Natasha had been giving him looks throughout breakfast, and he was sure he didn't want to know why. He roamed the streets of New York City, not having anywhere in particular in mind until he had to eventually return for dinner.

Dinner passed by in its normal course, and if there was any awkwardness between either Steve or Sam it was not acknowledged. Natasha, of course, was beyond frustrated that all of her work with Pepper was going to be ignored because they were acting like idiots. She was determined to make them talk to each other. At this point it was just annoying her.

"You talk a good game, Stark," Natasha said as she interrupted him going on about his 'vast intellect' as he put it, "but I'd like to see you beat me where it really counts: trivia."

He stared at her. "I'm sorry, was that supposed to be a challenge? I don't feel remotely intimidated." With the gauntlet thrown down, the team went into the living room once again and crowded around the coffee table as Pepper brought out Trivial Pursuit.

"Science bros," Tony called out as he sat next to Bruce. "Sorry Pepper."

"You're way too old to use the term 'bros'," Sam said. "It's not even cool after hearing you say it."

"Word to all my homies," Tony said while trying to throw up a gang symbol.

"Oh God. Please don't ever do that again," Sam said. While this was going on Natasha took a seat next to Clint, claiming him as her partner.

"I'll read off all of the questions and keep Tony from cheating," Pepper said while giving Tony a look. That just left Sam and Steve to take the final token from the board.

"I don't really think I should play. I'm only going to be a handicap," Steve said to the group in general.

"You're in luck," Sam said to Steve. "I have spent the entirety of my life collecting random, obscure pieces of knowledge for the sole purpose of being good at trivia games."

The game was cutting it pretty close. Tony and Bruce were of course doing well, and Natasha and Clint had apparently picked up a lot from all of their travelling around the world, but in the end it was the girl from the small town in Indiana who was wiping the floor with them almost singlehandedly. Thanks to some rather good rolls Sam and Steve had rounded the board quickly, and Sam did have a pretty odd knack for knowing the answers to almost every question. So much so that Tony had accused her of cheating and had confiscated everyone's phones so that they couldn't google the answers. Steve had actually been helpful in both sports and politics, two areas where Sam wasn't the best.

"Trouble he will find you no matter where you go, oh oh," Lenka's lyrics to 'Trouble is a Friend' rang out through the living room just as Sam and Steve were up for the last move between them and winning the game.

"That's my phone. It's Amber calling," Sam said as she got up to get her phone from the pile in the corner.

"Hey, it's your turn," Tony complained.

"Hey Amber, what's up," Sam asked as she ignored Tony. She paused as she listened to the other girl speak and the team watched her face go from smiling and happy to freaked out.

"Run to a neighbor's house and wait for me there," Sam said urgently into the phone as she grabbed one of Natasha's guns that were sitting on a side table. The other Avengers were on alert now and stood but before anyone could ask what was happening Sam had dropped her phone and disappeared, teleporting to where ever it was she was needed.

"Amber," Natasha said into the dropped phone, "are you still there? What's going on?" She couldn't make out much from the other end of the phone. It appeared that while she hadn't hung up she must not have had it to her ear. The rest of the Avengers were about to go suit up. No one could get into contact with Sam because her phone was obviously still here. Steve was going to yell at her for that when she got back.

They only had to wait a few minutes before Sam reappeared this time with Amber and two cats in tow. Amber promptly sat down on the couch. She appeared a little pale, but otherwise fine.

"What's going on," Steve asked.

Sam took a deep breath. "Someone has been in our house. They were gone when I got there, probably before Amber got there. They've been watching me for a while, apparently. It's not just some break in."

Instead of explaining more, she decided it would be better to take some of the team there. Pepper and Bruce were taking care of Amber, and Tony decided to stay back while Sam took Steve, Clint, and Natasha with her as they all held on. They realized part of why Amber looked so out of sorts. For a few seconds they were squeezed through blackness and felt like they couldn't breathe. There was no solid ground beneath them. Then the sensation stopped and they looked around at Sam's house.

They were in the kitchen, and all of the lights were on. What Steve saw made him hold his breath. Covering the walls were hundreds of pictures of Sam. Some of them looked like Sam was aware of the picture being taken, while others were candid shots. There were all different types: her going jogging, pictures in formal wear from prom, ones where she looked like she was hanging out with friends. They steadily progressed in age from a small child into one of the more recent ones, Sam and Steve dancing together at the benefit. That picture unnerved him the most, because he had been present and unaware it was taken.

Sam held up a bouquet of flowers. "Amber said this was waiting by the front door when she got home. It has a tag in it."

Natasha stepped forward and read the tag out loud. ''Every breath you take, every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you.'' It was a quote from the song 'Every Breath You Take' by Police, written in red ink. Steve was unfamiliar with the song, but he got a terrible feeling just hearing the lyrics read out loud.

Steve and Clint looked around the house more to search for anything else out of place while Sam and Natasha went upstairs to grab a few things, clothes and such, for Amber. When they were done Sam dared to peek into her room. It looked untouched, but she couldn't see it the same, knowing that some stranger could have walked in here and gone through her things. This wasn't supposed to happen. Amber was locking her door without Sam there, she knew self defense…and Sam was Sam. This shouldn't have happened.

Back at the tower several hours later they were all assembled around a table in a meeting room. Pepper had given Amber her own suite to stay at while she was there, and it was just a couple of doors down from Sam's. Amber was currently in there with the cats, who no one objected to boarding given the current situation. Some of the pictures of Sam were spread out on the table, as well as the bouquet of flowers with the card.

"SHIELD has already stationed agents in the area to watch your parents and sister," Natasha told Sam. "They'll keep an eye out while staying back. They won't know a thing." Sam nodded at this. It was important that no one knew, especially since Amber was the only person that knew about her double life.

"What about Amber's parents? They're just as close to me, and obviously this person knows it," Sam said as she looked at the pictures on the table. One of the closest ones was of Sam and Amber in graduation caps and gowns posing with Amber's parents.

"We can have them watched too. I'll make sure of it," Natasha said. "You should go get some sleep. There's nothing more that we can do tonight." She had been watching Sam closely all night. Natasha had seen a lot of good agents who were really affected once things became personal. To her credit, Sam had a cool, detached air to her that seemed strangely business-like. She would almost buy it, except for the fact that Sam normally was much less serious about things.

Sam looked like she was about to protest, but gave up once she looked around the table. Everyone looked like they would back Natasha up, and she didn't think it was likely they would continue to focus on this if she stayed there. She retreated to her floor, where she stopped by Amber's room and knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey, I just came to check on you," Sam said. "You have everything you need?"

Amber, for her part, seemed at ease as she played with the cats. "Yep. It's gonna suck trying to worry about school and all with this." They had already decided that Sam would take her back and forth to classes and her job. Amber was not going to go back to the house, or anywhere else but the Avengers tower, until this was fully resolved. Sam was adamant about that. No one argued with her on that.

"I think I'm going to quit my job," Amber stated. Sam immediately felt guilty.

"You don't have to do-," Sam started to object.

"No, it's fine. They weren't giving me enough hours anyway. Depending on how long I stay here, I might just take a break or find a job here."

"Well, you don't need to worry about rent or food or anything. And if you want spending money, you can take it from me," Sam said. "I owe you."

"None of this is-"

"From when your parents took me in," Sam clarified. Amber couldn't argue there, and they talked for a bit before Sam said good night and went to her own room.

As soon as the door was shut Sam nearly collapsed. This was one of the worst nights, the worst night, of her life. To think that someone could have come close to hurting her friend, hurting her….it shook her. It was never supposed to get that personal.

Steve hesitated out in the hallway before doubling back to Sam's door and knocking. He just wanted to check on her before he went to bed; he didn't think he would be able to sleep without it.

"Hey Steve," Sam said with a fake smile. He saw that her eyes were too watery, and the smile she had was only half hearted. She held the door open and he walked in.

"I just came to check on you," he said.

"I'm fine," Sam said before collapsing on the couch in the sitting room and holding her face in her hand. "Wow. That was probably the worst attempt at lying I have ever made."

Steve sat down next to her and put his hand on her knee.

"It's just, this person, whoever they are, has been watching me for years. Imagine how much they know. That's not even the worst part. They were doing all of this before I was even a target. When no one had any idea who I was, when it made no sense for them to be watching me," Sam said.

"I know. But you're not alone. We're all here for you, and we'll help. You're part of a team now," Steve said.

"They got so close tonight, to everything I care about, to someone I love. And that scares me," Sam admitted in a whisper.

Steve was silent for a moment before he said anything. "I've never been good at talking to women, so I'm just going to say it. When we were dancing last night, I was the happiest I've been in a very long time. I'm not good at anything to do with relationships or feelings, but when I look at you, I want to keep you safe and happy. Believe me; I will keep you safe and happy."

Steve stood up and summoned the courage to plant a kiss on her forehead before he headed for the door. He felt completely exposed, saying his feelings so openly. It was something he had never done before.

He was almost to the door when he heard Sam say, "Stay." Steve turned around to see Sam standing in the middle of the room and staring at him. Her voice had been quiet, but he heard it.

"Please. Just stay with me," Sam said in the same small voice as her eyes spilled over with tears. Steve walked back to her and wrapped his arms around her. It was a hundred times better than when they had danced. It was closer, more intimate.

They sat up for a while and talked on the couch in Sam's room. Sam was lying on the sofa while leaning against Steve as they held hands. They talked about Sam's parents when they got their divorce, her moving in to Amber's parents' house for part of their junior and senior years at school, her sister's various problems with the law. Steve realized there were two very different sides to Sam. There was the funny, strong Sam that the team knew, and then there was this more vulnerable side to Sam that she only let a few people see. Steve could relate.

"Do you ever miss them? The people you used to know," Sam asked after a pause in the conversation. Then she noticed the look in Steve's eyes. "I'm sorry, that question was too personal. You don't have to answer that."

"No, it's fine. I miss them a lot, sometimes. Things were very different then. It's so odd for me to think of what only happened a year ago for me, knowing that it happened seventy years ago. I do miss them. But this is where I am now, and it's not a bad place to be either. There are a lot of people that I'm glad to have met, especially now," Steve smiled at her.

The conversation started to lull into a comfortable silence. Finally, Sam fell asleep curled up against Steve. Instead of letting her sleep, he gently picked her up and carried her to bed. He pulled the covers around her and whispered "good night, Sam," as he turned off the lights and quietly left.

It was the second time in two days that Sam had fallen asleep with a smile on her face.

**A/N: Did you cry? I cried a little. It hit me right in the feels. Poor Sam. Steve will make you feel better. God, I just want their romance. It's so adorable. I apologize for all of the deep feelings, I promise it's not completely dark from here on out. I think they make this story a hell of a lot more legitimate, but it's still going to keep it's light and fluffy parts.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thank you to all of the people who have favorited or reviewed. Disclaimer: I'm like Marvel's crazy ex girlfriend. I keep calling and calling them but they won't respond. So I still don't own the Avengers.**

Sam walked into the kitchen earlier than usual that morning, due to the fact that she had skipped going to the gym that morning again. Steve had skipped it himself, since they both had been up so late. Despite only getting a few hours of sleep Sam tried to look as awake and relaxed as usual while she grabbed herself a cup of coffee. Pepper was currently the only one in the kitchen.

"Where's Amber," Pepper asked her as she flipped pancakes over on the griddle.

Sam rubbed her forehead as she answered, "Amber's not really much of a morning person. I tried to wake her up, but I decided to just let her sleep in." When Sam entered her room to wake Amber up she had thrown her stuffed horse, Mr. Squibbles, right at Sam's head. Sam was not expecting this, and got hit dead center in the forehead. Sam spent the next ten minutes helping Pepper in the kitchen and frying bacon.

"How are you holding up," Pepper asked her with genuine concern.

"I'm fine. Someone trying to kill me isn't exactly a new concept. I was a little worried about how Amber is, but something tells me she'll pull through," She said as she touched her forehead. For being half asleep and not even looking, Amber had a mean throw. "She's a lot tougher than I give her credit for. Knowing her, she'll be skipping around the tower as soon as she wakes up."

"I know, but it's still kind of hard. If you ever need anything," Pepper trailed off.

Sam smiled at her, "trust me, I know. I'm going to be getting the whole 'we are family' speech all day, aren't I?" Pepper just smiled in response as Bruce entered the kitchen and helped himself to some tea. She sensed Sam didn't really feel like making the topic a group discussion.

The rest of the team trickled into the room. First Clint, then Natasha followed by Steve, and finally Tony. Sam was aware of them trying to covertly watch her; it was kind of sad how easily she caught Natasha and Clint. Honestly, they were supposed to be assassin/spy/ninjas. Sam did her best to act natural, which was much easier to do than last night. She didn't know whether it was the time had elapsed making it easier, or whether it was what had happened between now and then. All she knew was that she was even able to put up with Tony's sarcasm.

Natasha was watching Sam carefully, and while it was one of the last things on her mind, she noticed the small smile Sam and Steve exchanged when he walked in. It seemed different than usual. She wondered what exactly had gone on between them.

Sam had given Steve a smile and a polite "good morning" when he walked in the kitchen, which he returned as he got a glass of juice. It almost seemed like everything was normal between the two, except they both remembered the events of last night. Sam might have thought it was a dream but for the fact that she woke up still in the clothes she was wearing last night. Steve must have carried her to bed. Such a gentleman, Sam thought.

Everyone sat down to eat at the table, and Sam took the chair next to Steve. They held hands underneath the table where no one could see. Halfway through breakfast Tony gave Sam, who was sitting across from him, the weirdest look.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a cradle robber. I'm not going to play footsie with you," he said.

"Um, definitely not me," Sam replied.

"Spangles," Tony said horrified as he looked at Steve, who started to object. Just then a calico blur pounced out from under the table and started batting at the bottom edge of the newspaper Bruce was trying to read. Natasha, who caught the movement, couldn't help but notice Steve and Sam's joined hands beneath the table.

"Pita," Sam laughed as Bruce picked up the cat while wearing a bemused expression. "And now you know how she got her name."

This was followed by Amber stalking into the room and taking the empty chair between Sam and Clint and helping herself to pancakes. "Good morning," she mumbled.

"God, you need coffee," Sam said. Amber stuck her tongue out as she put syrup on her pancakes.

"I could have done without you jumping on my bed and singing this morning."

"Yes, well, you didn't have to throw Mr. Squibbles at me either," Sam said.

"Mr. Squibbles," Tony asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Her stuffed horse. Don't make fun of it, trust me. You'll end up paying for it in the end," Sam said. "She's almost as good at pranks as I am."

"Temporary truce to gang up on Tony," Amber asked her with a mischievous smile.

"Done," Sam replied.

Tony looked around at the other occupants of the table. "Science bros," he asked Bruce. Bruce just chuckled as he shook his head and retreated to his lab. The rest of the table quickly dissolved, leaving Tony to face the oncoming prank war by himself.

The day went a little differently than normal. Natasha and Clint went to SHIELD in order to get a better look at whatever new developments were happening about the break in where Sam couldn't flit about worriedly. Instead she was stuck in the tower with Amber. She had given the other girl a tour all morning, and they ended up flipping channels in the communal living room. Tony followed Bruce down to the lab where he was hacking into SHIELD and looking at security video footage from stop lights and such around Sam's house. Bruce continued running tests on Sam's blood, figuring that it might be able to offer some help.

This left Steve without a job to do. While he was slightly upset that he couldn't do something useful to help, he was also glad because this meant he could stay with Sam all day. It was comforting to be near her, where he could be sure she was safe. He joined the two girls as they sat in the living room.

Amber and Sam were both on the couch, and as much as he would have liked to sit next to Sam, he settled for taking a nearby chair. He figured Sam would want to be close to her friend after what seemed like a near miss the night before, and they had also decided that maybe they should wait a few days before bringing up their relationship. It didn't seem like the right time to announce anything, which was fine by Steve. He would give her all the time she needed.

Natasha, however, was not so considerate. She knew what she had seen at the table. In light of what had happened, she thought Sam really needed a relationship with Steve. They both deserved it. Therefore, she was very annoyed that they apparently had something pass between them that they weren't admitting. She let her frustration be known to Clint.

"Don't worry. I think I know how to take care of it," Clint said with a smile.

Later that day Sam had run down to her room to grab her laptop and was on her way back up to join the others in the living room when she passed Clint in the hallway.

"Hey Sam," he called out to her and she paused.

"Hey Clint," she replied. "Did you learn anything new at SHIELD?"

"Not as much as I would have liked to," Clint said as he took a step closer to her. "Don't worry; we're going to find whoever did this."

"Thanks," she said as she slid a step back towards the wall. Sam had an issue about the whole 'personal space' thing. However, Clint followed.

"Um, Clint," Sam said in an uneasy tone. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing," he asked innocently as he propped one hand against the wall, near Sam's head. Definitely too close, she thought.

"Aren't you and Natasha together," Sam pointed out. Her voice didn't sound as firm as she wanted it too.

"What Tasha doesn't know won't hurt her," Clint said.

"I cannot believe you just said that," Sam said, slightly angry. She didn't know exactly what was going on here, but she wanted it to end. Now.

"What? You're an attractive person; I'm an attractive person. I don't see what's wrong here," he said.

"You mean besides the fact that you're way too old for me, or that I'm not remotely interested," Sam said, trying to get away. Clint just put his other hand on the other side of her head. Someone was about to get kicked in the crotch really soon.

"Unless there's someone else you're interested in," Clint asked. Sam immediately felt her face go red and she realized exactly what this was about. She still kneed him in the crotch though.

"You know, next time you want to know something, you could try asking. Vague sexual harassment is not the answer," Sam said as Clint backed away from her. She hadn't hit him as hard as she was originally going to, but it was enough for him to know to cut the crap.

"Yep. Just realized that," he said. Good, nothing was more subtle than hitting a man in the crotch. "So, you and Captain, huh?"

"Yes, Steve and I are sort of unofficially dating now, if you have to know," Sam said.

"I didn't have to know, not that I'm not happy for you two, but Natasha was going to resort to drastic measures soon," Clint replied. Natasha, of course, Sam thought.

"Let's agree to never speak of this moment again," Sam said.

"Yep. See you later," Clint said as he walked off, probably to go find an ice pack; serves him right.

Sam returned to the living room with her laptop in hand, where she found Steve and Amber had been joined by Natasha. Sam glared at her as she took her spot on the couch back. Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I think Clint is looking for you," Sam said to Natasha. The words sunk in for a second, and then Natasha left to go in search of Clint. Steve and Amber stared at Sam questioningly as she refused to make eye contact and opened her laptop.

"Is there something I should know about," Steve asked her. He wondered why Sam had been glaring. If there was any tension in the team, it needed to be taken care of.

Sam sighed as she opened a new window in her browser. "Nope," she said while making a popping noise on the 'p'. "Unless you count the fact that Clint and Natasha know we're a couple and that Amber is about to kill me because I didn't tell her first." The words came out in a rush and she stubbornly refused to lift her eyes from the computer screen.

The room was deadly quiet for a second and then Amber burst out, "What! I didn't get to know this first WHY? Oh, and congratulations you two."

"Don't get me wrong, I was going to tell you first. We thought it would be best to wait a few days, but I forgot we live in a house with freaking _ninjas_," Sam complained as she rolled her eyes.

Steve smiled at her. "I'm alright with it if you are."

"Of course I am," she replied with sincerity. Sure, it was annoying to have everyone butting in on their relationship, but it was theirs. She reached out and grabbed his hand with hers. As soon as their hands met cheesy background music from the soundtrack of a romantic movie started playing throughout the living room, and they broke their hands apart.

"Well it's about time, you two," Tony's voice said through the intercom. Sam rolled her eyes. "I was beginning to think Steve would stay a bachelor forever."

"God, it's like living at Amber's parents' house, but worse," Sam complained. "There is no such thing as privacy here." Amber laughed in response.

"Bruce said, 'Get some!'" Tony announced. They heard Bruce yell at him in the background. Steve had a confused look on his face, not getting what that meant, but Sam turned a light shade of pink as Amber giggled gleefully at her.

"I'm sorry. Apparently he said, 'Congratulations' but I must have misheard," Tony said.

"I can see how you would confuse the two," Steve said, irritated.

"You kids have fun. Amber, you can chaperone," Tony said as he cut off the intercom.

"No," Sam said to Amber, cutting off whatever she was about to say.

Dinner was different. Sam and Steve held hands more openly, seeing as everyone knew. She continued to glare at Clint, who chose very wisely to not make eye contact. The mood at the table was otherwise mostly upbeat, especially with Amber's added enthusiasm. It probably should have been more subdued given the current situation, but it was nice to keep the conversation light and lively. It was exactly what Amber and Sam needed, and what they were used to. Steve was happy to go along with whatever made Sam happy.

After dinner the couple slipped into Sam's room, where they cuddled together and watched old Disney movies. It was nice. She was so used to being strong, but she enjoyed resting her head on Steve's shoulder and forgetting everything for a bit. It was definitely something she could get used to.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry this took so long guys! I get distracted by pretty much anything, and I got swept up in helping my mom with things and then the weather got really nice out, etc. This chapter isn't as great as I wanted it to be, but I really wanted to get it up for you all. Thank you to everyone who has favorited this story, as well as all of the wonderful reviews! I love you all! DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Avengers. If I did, I wouldn't be writing this. I would be spending my time more productively, like going on dates with Chris Evans. Or Tom Hiddleston. Or any of them lol.**

In the next two weeks that followed the team had returned to some sense of normalcy. As the days stretched onward and no new leads were found on whoever broke in to Sam's house the trail grew colder and colder. It was never exactly "out of sight, out of mind" because Sam still felt the shadow of a threat looming over her, but with Amber safe and behaving as her usual spunky self, the team's protecting presence, and of course her budding relationship with Steve, Sam was able to feel at ease enough to relax into her daily routines.

Sam dropped Amber off at school twice a week for her classes, and in the time being she would go to their house and take care of things while working on her own classes online, or else go on missions with the team. After a few days the team eventually let Sam rejoin the missions, although no one was more hesitant than Steve to do so. They were worried about letting her go so openly, but as she explained, how much safer can you get than surrounded by the Avengers?

It was during one such mission that Sam was stationed out on a sidewalk in New York City, dressed as a civilian. Few people even knew there was a new addition to the Avengers, so she was an ideal spy on the ground. Right then she was supposed to be scanning the crowds for a man that had hacked into the white house security that morning.

"Hey there, pretty," a man said as he walked up to Sam. At first glance she mistook him for a homeless person, but it appeared he had purposely ripped up his jeans and not showered. His mother must be so proud of him. "Come here often?"

"Are you seriously trying to use a generic pick up line on me," Sam asked with distaste. She could vaguely hear the others in her comms system.

"I don't need much more than that. Normally I pick up girls on my good looks," he replied.

"Stark, I thought you were supposed to be stationed a block away. Stop hitting on Sam," Clint said in the earpiece.

"Ha ha, you are extremely funny. I do not engage in pedophilia," Tony replied.

"Lose him," Natasha said.

"As refreshing as your modesty is," Sam responded to the man before she could get sucked into the bickering, "I have a boyfriend, who I am very happy with."

"I don't see him here," the man said while looking around.

"You're about to," Steve said in the earpiece. It was time to get rid of this man.

"Look, you need to leave me alone," Sam said firmly. "My boyfriend is incredibly strong, and unless you can bench press at least 300 pounds, I suggest you leave."

"I don't need to bench press 300 pounds to bench press you," the man said with a wink. Sam stared in open mouthed shock at the man. "Why don't we go to a hotel around the corner and I'll be your personal coach."

Sam didn't think twice about what she did next. Moving forward, she swiftly stomped on his foot, followed by a very painful knee to the crotch. "Do I _look _like your mother to you," Sam said as she stormed away from the man and the crowd of gawkers. She heard what she was pretty sure was Tony's laughter in her earpiece. He shall pay later.

She wandered down a side alley, trying to get away from the scene. Footsteps echoed behind her and she turned around to see two men blocking her in from the way she had come. "In my country, women do not get away with treating a man that way."

"Oh, really? In _my_ country, women don't take harassment quietly. It's illegal, and then people like _the Avengers_," she put emphasis on the words to signal to her team, "step in."

The two men laughed. "We have been in this country, and have yet to see your Avengers. Perhaps they are not as intimidating as you would have us believe? We're in the very city they hold their headquarters, and yet they have not once come close to stopping us."

"I'm kind of getting the impression you aren't just average creeps," Sam said as she backed further down the alley, making the two men move further in. They merely smiled.

"Hang tight. We're moving in," Clint said in the earpiece.

"When we are finished with your country, women like you shall learn their place, and then you will know better than to walk into a dark alley," the first man said as he moved in, just a step too close. Sam kicked out his right foot, and then hit him on the head as he went down. She looked up at the second man. As she was about to pull out a knife an arrow zipped over her shoulder and embedded the shoulder of his shirt deep into the wall. Hawkeye jumped into the alley way next to her.

"This is Hawkeye; your argument is irrelevant," Sam said. "By the way, you should know better than to walk into a dark alley. You meet the most dangerous people here."

One of the men in the alley did appear to be the one they were looking for. It was extremely good luck on their behalf. Clint and Natasha loaded up the two into a van and drove them off to the SHIELD base for further questioning, while Tony, Steve, Bruce and Sam chilled in the alley for a bit. Sam's phone rang at that moment, and she picked it up quickly.

"Hey Amber, what's up," Sam asked. There was a pause. "Tony, Amber said there's an intruder on the top floor." She paused and listened to the phone again as Tony and Steve prepared for a new fight. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it then. Just hang tight until we get there." Sam hung up.

"I wouldn't be too concerned guys. She said, and I quote, 'he's tall, blonde. Hammer. Lightning,' so I would bet it's-"

"Thor," Steve cut in.

They quickly made their way back to the tower. On the top floor they found Thor and Amber sitting on a sofa together. What on earth they had been discussing, Sam did not want to know. She had to love Amber, but she was a little afraid of what the other girl thought qualified as a reasonable topic of discussion with a demigod from another planet.

"Thor, it's nice to see you again," Steve greeted as they got out of the elevator.

"My friends! I am glad to see you as well," Thor said as he stood up to greet them. It was then that a figure rose in the background. Previously unnoticed, there was another occupant was in the room. Several of the new comers reached for weapons as Loki stepped forward.

"Everything is fine," Thor said as he took in the tension in the room. "Loki has gone through his trial on Asgard and has been sentenced to remain on Earth, stripped of his powers, until he may repent for his crimes. There is no need for weapons."

The group cautiously lowered their weapons. Loki just looked exceedingly bored by the proceedings. If he had to repent, he might be stuck here a while.

"It's nice to meet you, Thor. My name is Samantha Harper," Sam said as she stepped forward and offered him a hand. Instead of shaking it, as had been Sam's intention, he raised her hand and kissed it. She tried very hard not to laugh and succeeded in keeping the same expression. Next to her, Steve visibly twitched.

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Thor said as he let go of her hand. "And this is my brother, Loki." Loki stiffened when he heard the word brother, but directed his gaze at her in a not quite hostile, but neither was it friendly, fashion.

"Charmed," he said with an air of bored sarcasm.

Sam half smiled and politely waved. "Same here," she said.

Oh, there was just going to be bunches of fun in the tower now.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thank you so much to my dedicated readers, new and old. Sadly, I might start slacking with the updates for the next week or two, due to my aunt being in the hospital. I promise that I will keep seeing this story to the end though; it just may not be in the most expeditious manner. Bear with me, please. That said, I love all of the reviews I got about adding Thor and Loki into the mix. There's been a bit of speculation as to why a certain frost giant is now here, but you'll just have to read. I'll never tell. ;) DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Avengers or else I wouldn't be writing this here, it would just be the plot to another movie. Oh, and there's a spoiler alert for those two people who haven't watched Finding Nemo. But seriously, if you haven't watched it in at least two different languages at school by now, I have to assume you're about 5 years old and won't understand my plot line anyway.**

Sam was sitting next to Natasha on the sofa in the living room. The room was only slightly tense, as Thor and Loki were also there, watching the Discovery channel. It was the day after their arrival, and things were…well, pretty much as described. No one was enthusiastic about having Loki there, but they didn't exactly want Thor on their bad side. That, and Thor said he and Loki could find a new place. In the end, it was better if they stayed; more people could watch Loki.

There was just one rule Sam was adamant about: Loki could never be in the same room alone with Amber. Steve followed up this rule by saying Loki should never be alone in any room with only one other occupant, with the exception of Thor. Sam inwardly rolled her eyes a little, but kept from commenting. It was pretty clear from the unintentional glance he gave her that Steve specifically meant her. The whole "protective boyfriend" thing was cute, so she just let it go.

Tony strolled into the room, and Amber followed shortly after. She walked right in front of Sam and stared at her, blocking the TV.

"Is there something you need," Sam asked her when she didn't speak.

"Woman, make me cookies," Amber said. Sam sighed and stood up. She could make them now, or she could make them later, either way Amber was going to get cookies. She was persistent.

"Wait, it's that easy," Tony asked, looking between the two. "I just call her 'woman' and tell her to do something, and she does it?"

If glares could kill, there would have been three pairs of lasers straight at Tony's face. "Come closer and say that," Sam said. Loki laughed at Tony's situation, obviously amused.

"Keep laughing, I'll make you do the dishes," Sam said. She and Amber were almost out of the room.

"I do not do_ chores_ like some common milk maid," he said. Sam didn't reply, but they saw Amber whisper something in Sam's ear, then both started laughing as they went around to the kitchen. Loki stared after them. There would be mischief afoot.

Steve walked in just as they were mixing in the dry ingredients. "Would you ladies like some help," he offered.

Sam turned around and looked at him. "You know, we've got the flour covered, but you can taste test," she said and watched him turn a light shade of pink at the memory of flour everywhere.

"Hey," Amber complained. "Taste testing is _my _job!" This continued for the entire time the cookies were baking, and after they cooled. Steve surprisingly did very well when they started bickering. He just learned to quietly stay out of the line of fire while they did whatever they pleased. Their friendship amused him, even if he thought it wasn't quite normal. Then again, not much around the tower was normal.

"Can I at least help with the dishes," Steve asked. Sam and Amber looked at each other for a second.

"No, thank you. We already have a volunteer," Amber said before laughing. Sam just shrugged at Steve and he took a few cookies for the road and went on his way. He would figure out what that was about eventually. Probably something to do with Tony.

The pranks had seriously escalated in the tower in the past week or so. It started when Tony had programmed JARVIS to make Amber's shower cold, because he complained about how long it took her to wake up in the morning. The next day when he woke up there was toast stuck to all of the walls of his own shower, along with the note, "Hope you like your shower nice and toasty!"

He shouldn't approve, but by far his favorite prank had been done on Tony. He caused it on himself, interrupting his and Sam's quiet time by spying on them. He was trying to be the annoyingly protective father and ruin every time Sam was with Steve. Quite a few times he succeeded.

The next morning, they all woke up to find JARVIS had a sex change, of sorts. A female voice with a British accent was used by the AI and Tony had to spend all morning trying to fix it. He knew Sam wasn't that good at computers, so he was going to ask how on earth they managed it, but then he saw her give Bruce a high five under the table. He figured that by the time dinner was served, he would figure out whatever Tony did and the prank that followed.

Steve was partially right. They were all around the dinner table when Loki walked in carrying a large box, looking annoyed. He dropped it onto the table in front of Sam, where the dirty dishes inside clattered around.

"I'm not washing these," he told her as he sat down between Bruce and Thor, obviously thrilled to sit there.

"No cookies for you," Sam said as she moved the box to the kitchen. Steve was giving her a look, so she smiled back at him and grabbed his hand. Loki stared at the movement before looking around the room. For the record, he would have rather eaten by himself and have no social interaction with anyone, including Thor. Quite a few people at the table thought this was a good idea themselves. However, Thor refused. He said Loki needed to become accustomed to "Midgardian ways" and that would be best by being included in the group.

And by "included in the group" that meant that he was placed as far away as the table would allow from Amber, and by extension Sam. Even Tony made sure Pepper was away from him. However, it was Natasha that kept Clint away from Loki.

True to her word, after dinner everyone but Loki got chocolate chip cookies as Sam passed the plate around, purposely skipping around him. Sam wasn't quite sure how Thor would react, but he simply smiled good naturedly as he realized Sam's intentions. She wasn't sure about her new teammate yet, and it was kind of interesting, wrapping her head around him being from another planet.

Loki stared around the table as everyone else ate their cookies. Tony, for his part, was being as annoying as possible. Even Bruce had to struggle to keep a smile off of his face.

"Truly, mortal? You wish to make me an enemy, you blasphemous plebian" Loki asked Sam. Steve, as well as several of the other members of the table, glared at him.

"Come now, brother," Thor said.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones," Sam smiled at him.

"But chains and whips excite me," Amber finished. Sam burst out laughing, which eased the tension in the room. Steve made to scoot away from Amber a little more, which made most of the table laugh more. Thor and Loki simply looked lost.

"I really hope everyone knows that Rihanna song, or else this is just bad," Sam said as she sobered up.

"I think it's bad at any point in time," Tony said. "You just admitted that you listen to Rihanna."

"There's nothing wrong with-," Sam cut short, "there used to be nothing wrong with listening to Rihanna."

"That's it. I'm making you listen to ACDC," Tony told her. "Both of you."

Sam got a blank look. "What's an ACDC? Isn't that something to do with cars, like on the dashboard or something?"

The room became deathly quiet as Tony stared at her in horror. "You didn't just say that. You…you're kidding, right? I have original eight tracks of every album-"

"Wait, what's 'a track'," Amber asked with an equally confused face. "Do you mean, like, the song?"

Tony's horrified expression intensified to where it looked like it would be frozen there. Pepper glanced between him and the girls, and Bruce was seriously considering running for it. Then, both Sam and Amber started laughing.

"Oh god, your face," Amber exclaimed.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I had to," Sam said between giggles. Without a word, Tony got up and left the table. "If I had known it was that easy to get him, I wouldn't have bothered with reprogramming JARVIS."

"You do realize he's going to get you back for this," Pepper told them. "Oh god, I don't even want to know what's going to happen next."

"Sorry, Pepper," Amber and Sam said in unison with a grin that cancelled out the apology.

Later on, Amber and Sam were sitting in the living room together watching a movie. A bold move, considering it seemed like Tony was out to get them. It helped that they were both armed with water guns. Because, you know, you could never be too careful.

Sam was listening for footsteps as Nemo was "touching the butt" and heard someone coming. She quickly flipped around in the sofa and aimed at the door way as Amber quickly followed suit. Unfortunately, Amber went ahead and fired as someone rounded the corner, hitting Thor right in the chest.

"I am so sorry," Sam apologized as they both dropped their water guns. "We were expecting Tony and-"

"It is no problem," Thor laughed. "I am barely wet. I was just coming to see if perhaps Loki and I may join you in watching this 'movie'," he said the word awkwardly.

"Of course," Amber said at once. Sam was going to make some excuse, but she felt bad for just soaking him with a water gun. In truth, Amber really got him square in the chest. There was a giant wet spot. Plus, it would look obvious to start a movie and leave just as they enter. She didn't want to hurt Thor's feelings.

Thor sat in one of the nearby arm chairs and Loki slunk into the room, looking like he would rather be anywhere else. Sam wondered why he let himself be drug around, then realized fighting with Thor was probably like going against Amber: he would just keep annoying you until you caved in.

Loki paused as he looked around the room. The sofa was in the center, and Thor had chosen the seat near Amber's half of the sofa. Therefore, he picked a seat as far from him as possible, which was unfortunately near Sam. She made no comment and focused on restarting the movie for them while explaining the plot of the movie.

"So the fish in this movie talk," Thor asked them.

"Yeah, their trying to find Marlin's son, Nemo," Amber explained. "He gets separated and anyway, you get to see a lot of the fish in the ocean in this movie. It's actually a pretty good representation, aside from the whole 'talking' thing."

Steve walked into the room, for some reason in his suit, and Sam promptly scooted over so he could sit next to her. They cuddled together during the movie, or at least Sam rested up against Steve while his arm wrapped around her. He wasn't big on the whole PDA thing; it made him nervous.

They got through the entire movie with Thor frequently interrupting with questions, causing Amber to pause the movie and answer. Of course, Sam and Amber interrupted the movie every now and then to add comments or quote from the movie, at which point Steve had to ask how many times they had seen it. Amber stuck her tongue out in response.

Loki was a surprisingly good sport and sat through it all without comment, and Sam even thought he was enjoying the movie. Oh sure, he acted like he was bored, but you could tell he was watching intensely when they were in the jellyfish scene. He even wore a small smile at the end, when Marlin and Nemo finally reunited. Sam decided she would test this theory and find a movie everyone loved, to see how Loki would react.

They all got up to stretch their legs at the end of the movie. "I can't wait until the second one comes out," Amber said.

"What do you mean? They can't possibly lose Nemo again," Thor said.

"It worked for _The Hangover_," Amber said as she turned to look at Sam and Steve. "Isn't that right, Sam? Um, don't look now, but you're dating Captain Canada."

"What," Sam said, completely confused. Then she looked at Steve's suit. Someone had stuck the Canadian flag over his shield emblem.

"It wasn't me," Amber defended herself as she laughed. Steve quickly ripped the flag off of his suit and put it on the side table.

"This is war," Sam said with a serious expression as she picked up her water gun and handed the other to Steve. "Come on, Captain. We have a new mission." She pulled him along behind her, with Amber tagging along behind, still laughing. Thor and Loki gave each other a brief look as they questioned everyone else's sanity.

"Mortals are strange," Loki announced.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Hey again, everyone! Thank you for all of the continued love and support. I feel so awesome knowing this is my first fan fiction and I've got about 75 readers so far. I just wanted to let you all know that I have plans for another Avengers story in the works. It's not much more than an idea yet. I know that I've considered making a sequel to this story based on the reactions, but this is a completely new idea as well. I won't disclose much more than saying it's a story involving an OC that stays with the Avengers somewhat unwillingly while she is in danger and there is more focus on the Asgardians, but of course there are more twists and turns in the plot than that. I'm not sure if I'll start writing it while trying to update this story as well or wait until I'm done, or where a sequel to this story would work in at all. Anyway, on with everything else. Disclaimer: I have almost given up hope in my search to find the rights to the Avengers, sadly. I shall leave it in Marvel's capable hands.**

"Guys! Does this _really_ have to happen in _my_ lab," Bruce yelled as he hid behind a cabinet for cover. He wasn't getting angry yet, but he just might.

The insanity started about twenty minutes ago, when Tony casually walked into the lab and started messing with some spare parts in the corner. That in itself might have been a warning sign, but then Steve and Sam burst into the lab, water guns aimed. Tony hid underneath a table, and then Sam executed a barrel roll into the room and soaked Tony. Steve quickly followed.

Tony armed himself with a Nerf gun that was on a work table for some reason (Tony was probably working on making it into a real weapon) and retaliated. By this point Bruce was trying to slip out of the lab quietly when he got struck right in the forehead by a Nerf bullet. The group paused as Bruce took a deep breath, and then resumed the war after he had ducked behind the cabinet.

"I was just minding my own business-," Tony said as he hid behind an overturned table.

"Oh, please," Sam interrupted. "You put a Canadian flag on Steve's suit!"

"That wasn't me," he shot back. "Why don't you go interrogate your feral friend?"

"Amber can't lie to save her own skin," Sam said.

"Better question: how did you convince Capsicle to join into the shenanigans there," he asked.

"Would you stop calling me that, Stark? I have a name," Steve said.

"Oh, come on. I could start calling you bomb pop," Tony said. He was almost out of ammo. This wasn't good. He considered activating his suit, but it seemed like overkill. Plus, he wasn't sure how annoyed Bruce was.

"I kind of like the name 'Capsicle'. I think it's cute. Maybe I'll start calling you it," Sam said.

Tony groaned from where he was hidden. "Now you've defeated the purpose," he complained as he shot around the side and fired. This time it ricocheted off of Steve's shield and hit Bruce, again.

"That's it," Bruce yelled. "All of you, out of here now!"

They wasted no time in filing out of the lab. The last thing they needed was to rebuild the lab, again. Some of that equipment was hard to replace.

The elevator dinged as the trio left the elevator at the top floor, with Tony still soaking wet. Pepper waited right in front of the elevator doors, looking like an upset mother about to punish them. Sam felt like the words "you're grounded" were about to said.

"You're children," Pepper told all of them. "Honestly,_ in Bruce's lab?_"

"Sorry, Pepper," the trio chorused. Sam noticed that Amber chose to sit and watch from the sidelines, like the sibling that wasn't caught.

She sighed. "Okay, here's what's going to happen: we're ending this prank madness. You're all going to go into the living room and do something group-like."

They left Pepper and went into the living room. Amber was already there, trying really hard not to laugh. Thor and Loki were there as well still.

"Steve got in trouble," Amber said in a sing song voice under her breath; Sam through a pillow at her.

"Acting like children," Thor asked them with his eyebrow raised.

"Oh, shut it," Tony sulked as he got a scotch.

"Fine, we're playing Truth or Dare," Sam announced. "Whatever happens in the game, you can't get revenge for later."

"Done," Tony said as he took a seat with a big grin.

"Done," Amber echoed.

"Um, is this really a good idea," Steve asked. He got no answer.

"I shall join you in this game, as shall Loki," Thor announced. Loki was eyeing the window like it was a legitimate means of escape.

"Excellent," Tony exclaimed. "I'll go first. Sam: truth or dare?"

"You really want me to pick dare, don't you," she said. "Well, I'm picking truth."

Tony let out an evil laugh, and Sam had the distinct feeling she had chosen wrong. "Who was the last person you dated before Steve? Tell us about him." Oh, that question seemed innocent enough…until she thought about her ex.

"You know, Truth or Dare was a bad idea anyway. I mean, it's only played at sleepovers," Sam started. Tony started making chicken noises. "Fine. His name was Derek. We dated for about a month, and then we broke up."

"Aw come on, you left all of the good stuff out," Tony protested.

"Thor: truth or dare," Sam asked, pointedly ignoring the question.

"I shall pick dare," Thor said. He wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

Ten minutes later he was standing out on the street in a dress with a sign that said 'Honk if you think I'm cute'. It got so bad Bruce even came outside to see if there was a traffic accident, but quickly fled after he realized the level of insanity. Pepper came outside, saw Thor in her dress, and then left shaking her head. Natasha just took a picture from her seat on the roof with Clint.

"That was an excellent dare," Thor said as they returned to their seats. "Loki, it is your turn. Truth or dare?"

"Must I really play this pathetic game," Loki asked with a bored voice. Thor gave him a stern look and Loki sighed. "Fine, I pick dare."

"Hmm, I am unfamiliar with good dares," Thor said as he paused. Amber leaned over and whispered into his ear.

"Are you sure it is worthy," Thor asked her.

"Yes," Amber replied with a laugh and reached into her purse.

"Very well, brother, for your dare you must listen to the music of 'Justin Bieber' while we play the rest of the game," Thor announced. Sam and Tony started laughing, and Steve took that to mean that the music sounded like the dying screams of a baby seal. Amber handed him her iPod, already playing, and he put the ear buds in.

"Who is this woman," Loki said in disgust after a few seconds. That just made everyone laugh harder.

"You need to choose someone," Amber reminded him.

"Fine. You, mortal wench," he said with a gesture towards Amber. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare of course," Amber replied. "Only chickens pick truths."

"Hey," Sam yelled.

"Fine, for your dare…you have to make _that_," he said while sweeping a hand at Tony, "semi-presentable."

"I don't see how this is a dare for her," Tony said with narrowed eyes.

Amber body-tackled him to the ground and pulled out a barrette. "We're gonna make you pretty!" To be fair, Tony tried to struggle, but it appeared he was defenseless without his suit, and no one felt particularly inclined to help him, both out of humor and from the threat of crossing the line of fire of lipstick and eye shadow. JARVIS wasn't too helpful either; it appeared he had his own list of grievances with Tony.

When it was said and done, Tony looked like he belonged on the set of Toddlers and Tiaras. There was so much makeup on him that it looked like he had a new face.

"You would be prettier if you smiled," Amber teased. Tony gave her a not-so-pretty gesture, and then Steve gave him a glare. It was one of his pet peeves, especially in front of women.

"My turn," Amber said. "Steve: truth or dare?"

"I'm picking truth," Steve said.

Amber gave an evil laugh. "Alright then, out of Tony, Thor, and Loki, who would shoot, shag and marry?"

Steve spluttered for a moment over the question before he could form coherent words. "I don't even- they're men! That's not- I'm dating Sam!" There was a round of laughter at his expense, with the two Asgardians giving them odd looks.

"This is Amber's way of having fun. Just answer the question randomly," Sam said while rolling her eyes at Amber. "It doesn't matter."

"Okay, well I guess that I would shoot Loki," Steve said while looking away from him. He didn't want to be mean, but he was a recovering criminal and he would shoot him over his friends. "Although, I don't what 'shagging' is."

Tony laughed as he leaned over and whispered in Steve's ear and everyone watched as poor Steve turned crimson.

"I refuse to answer that," Steve exclaimed.

"Put it this way, which one would you rather marry," Amber asked.

"Well, a marriage with Tony seems unbearable, so I guess Thor-," Steve started.

"That means it's you and Tony shagging," Amber giggled.

The night continued on in insanity, and most of the prank war was forgotten; they even all got along with Loki and treated him civilly. For his part, Loki behaved himself and kept most of his things clean, which seemed to be impossible for both Amber and Tony. Pepper peeked into the room and smiled, glad that they could be in the same room without destroying it.

The next morning continued in a civil manner. There were no pranks to speak of for the first morning in weeks. While the prank war was not discontinued, they all felt the need to cool it and be sneakier about it, or else Pepper, or, God forbid, _Bruce_, yell at them. Sam took Amber to class after breakfast and then went back to their empty house to check on mail and such.

It seemed so long ago that they were in the house that she was surprised there wasn't dust covering everything. The mail sat in a pile behind the front door, and she grabbed the stack of envelopes and moved into the living room to work on her laptop for her own classes. She had to finish up a paper by the time she left the house that day or else it would never get done on time.

After a while she got up to get a drink from the fridge, and decided to go through the mail in an attempt to procrastinate for a bit. There were a few bills that she was going to have to sort out later, as well as some college newsletters and such. Then there was a little pale blue envelope with her name on it.

Inside was a store bought card with the title "Missing You" and a vase of flowers on the cover. Sam felt herself go cold as she opened the card. The lyrics to 'Where'd You Go?' by Fort Minor were hand written in black ink on the inside. _'Where'd you go, I miss you so, seems like it's been forever, since you've been gone, please come back home.'_ On the opposite page, written in the same handwriting, were the words _'115 Pine Avenue, Evansville, 1:00 pm, on the 27__th__ of August. Come alone and find your answers'_.

Sam stared at the card in her hands without thinking, her gaze falling through to focus on nothing. She grabbed the envelope and searched it for any clue she could find. There was no return address; there wasn't even a stamp. Whoever sent this had hand delivered it.

She looked at every single word written. She recognized the lyrics; the song was on her iPod. The writing was almost in calligraphy. She stared at the word 'alone'. She couldn't do this, go alone and forsake her team. Steve would be angry enough as it was, but the whole team was family. It felt like not telling them would betray them.

Then again, this was her problem. It burned her to know that she wasn't able to keep herself, her friends, her family, safe all of these years. She could end it all now, if she chose to, by herself. All she had to do was surprise whoever was at this little meeting, get her answers, and end this nightmare. There would be no more endangering everyone else.

It was the 26th of August. She had one day before she would find answers.

**A/N: Hey again, everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I start college tomorrow, which is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I have classes and homework, however I will also be stuck on the campus waiting in the library for a few hours on Mondays and Wednesdays, so I will have nothing better to do than write for all of you. Oh, and I'm also living with plummuffins for half of the week when we have classes together to save on carpooling and study together and stuff, so it's gonna be a wild ride. I promise, no matter how hectic everything becomes, I will never give up on my stories, I am determined to see them through. Thank you once again for all the love!**

**P.S. I just wanted to give a special thank you to one of my friends, Amanda, for reading this story and falling in love with it, despite not being a fanfiction junkie. I always find it awkward to talk about my secret obsession, but fellow Captain fans must stick together, and nothing made me happier than her squeeing over this story for me. Similarly, I would like to thank Celeste for reading my story as well. You guys rock. **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Well, here it is, lucky chapter number 13. As I thought, I'm going to have plenty of time to write on both Mondays and Wednesdays when I have breaks in my classes, particularly on Wednesdays. And I've also started working more on my new idea, Bridges, which I will begin posting shortly after I end Silver. I'm not crazy about working on two fanfics at once, especially when they're for the same movie, but I'm already getting some of the chapters for Bridges out of the way so when I do post it, there shouldn't be so much lag on it. Anyway, thank you to all of my faithful readers. Breaking news: the Avengers gag reel is on tumblr now, and it's hilarious. If you haven't seen it, you live in a cave. Go find it and have your day made. Thank you for all of the lovely reviews. You guys are the best. Honestly. Disclaimer: I'm told that owning an Avengers lunch box does not mean you have exclusive rights to Marvel or the Avengers, so I'm still out of luck. **

"Hey, is everything okay," Steve asked with a frown on his face. Sam had been rather quiet since she had come back to the tower with Amber. It was unlike her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why," Sam said with a smile. She knew why. Her mind was racing, images of blue envelopes and photos of her circling through her head. She couldn't decide what to do about it. Could she face this by herself? The endless cycle of thoughts kept her preoccupied, and she had let her façade slip.

"I don't know, you seem distracted," Steve answered her.

Oh sure, leave it for today for Steve to be observant. "It's nothing, I'm just thinking about my parents. I haven't talked to either of them in a while."

Steve's face immediately clouded over. He knew she didn't like talking about her parents much, so he knew it was best to leave the conversation there. He would happily listen to her if she wanted to talk, but the subject was sensitive to her.

"If you want to talk, I'm here for you," Steve reminded her as he pulled her a little closer.

"I know," Sam said as she gave him a real smile, the first she had given since she got back.

She felt so bad about lying to Steve. Immediately she wanted to take the words back, to tell him what she had found...but she couldn't. Normally she wouldn't have thought twice about it; she had told plenty of lies before to keep her identity safe, or else to help smooth things over. Lying was second nature to her, but Steve was one of the few people who knew more than the lies she told. It felt wrong to not give him the truth.

Normally she wouldn't have thought twice about it; she had told plenty of lies before to keep her identity safe, or else to help smooth things over. Lying was second nature to her, but Steve was one of the few people who knew more than the lies she told. It felt wrong to not give him the truth.

"I'm just going to go bake some brownies for a bit," Sam said as she pulled away. She tried to make her words sound cheerful and to keep a smile plastered on her face. Perhaps she was a little too convincing, because Steve just nodded and smiled back as he let her go. It was then that she realized a part of her wanted to get caught. She wanted someone else to help her with this nightmare, like when her mom used to check for monsters in her closet every night. Then she remembered she had been four at the time, she needed the protection. She would have to find her own closure this time.

Sam was working on a huge batch of fudge brownies (Thor could manage to eat an entire batch himself) when she heard a thud and then a shatter from the living room. She knew Amber, Thor, and Loki had been up to something in there. Amber had wandered into the kitchen, took one look at Sam baking, and then quickly went into the living room and claimed that the Asgardians needed to know how to use the Wii.

Sam stopped mixing in chocolate chips and entered the living room cautiously, like it was a war zone. Inside she found Amber with a hand clamped to her mouth, Loki standing in a corner with his own remote, and Thor inspecting the flat screen, which had taken a tumble down to the floor and rested in a bed of shattered glass. A Wii remote was lying not too far away.

Tony entered the living room after he heard the crash for himself and walked over to the TV. "Guys," he said as he drew out the word in a sigh, "this is why we can't have nice things."

A collective release of breath followed the statement. At least he wasn't mad. "I'll have a new one replace it by tonight. And Thor, next time don't forget to put on the wrist strap when you bowl," Tony called over his shoulder as he entered the elevator.

Sam's mood had not improved during dinner, and some of the group had noticed. Natasha gave Steve a questioning look, but he just shook his head. Sam had every right to be moody in his opinion, and he would give her all the time she deserved.

Amber was not of the same opinion however. Sam had given her the same story about her parents, but this had backfired on her. Amber knew better than to let Sam mope around, so she set about to make herself as annoyingly persistent as possible while trying to get Sam to smile. If she didn't want to talk, that was fine, but Amber was determined to make her at least forget about it for a while.

"Let's go to Candy Mountain, Charlie," Amber quoted to her as she tugged on Sam's hand.

"Ugh, what is wrong with you," Sam said as she let herself get dragged along.

"Well, I kill people and I eat hands, that's two things," Amber quoted again as she giggled. Steve stared at her as if questioning her sanity and Amber gasped. "Steve! Have you never heard of the wondrous invention called YouTube?!"

"Um…no," Steve said like it was a question.

"Tony," Amber yelled. "How dare you commit this gross injustice? You were supposed to be teaching Steve about technology!"

"Priorities," Tony replied. "I can't even get him to text yet." Amber rolled her eyes.

"That's it," she said. "I know what we're doing tonight."

For the next three hours they were subjected to watching the YouTube classics. Steve did not appreciate the humor in most of the videos, but he watched Sam laugh along with Amber, and it made him smile. Other members of the team flitted in and out of the room at different videos. Thor insisted that he and Loki watch as well, "to learn more Midgardian customs", which led to more explaining. Loki seemed to enjoy Llamas with Hats. Karl's psychotic tendencies were hard to not laugh at, unless you actually had a soul.

Steve walked Sam to her room and entered her sitting area with her. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Of course," Sam said. She really wished he would stop being so observant for once, it was really making her feel guilty. "It's all fine, I'm thinking of maybe calling my mom tonight."

"In that case, I'll let you get to it, just…don't let it get to you, okay? I like seeing your smile," Steve said as he kissed her forehead. It was a heartwarming gesture, something he did when kissing her good night. He wasn't big on make out sessions, but this was far sweeter. She gave him a hug in response and held on a little longer than usual. She almost lost it right then, but held together.

"Good night," she whispered as he left. Sam changed into her pajamas and climbed into her bed, but she knew it would be a long time before sleep came to her.

The next morning she felt terrible. Nightmares ruled her dreams, ones with never ending twists and turns and the constant feeling that she needed to be somewhere, that there was someone in trouble, but she could never find them. The same nightmare always came back to her, no matter how many times she woke up. She had a miserable headache that no amount of aspirin could take away.

Still, Sam carried on and faked her way through the morning. She met Steve in the gym and was careful to act normal. He seemed satisfied that she was feeling better. He didn't dare ask about her parents though, in case it made her upset again.

Breakfast was the usual crowd of people packed around the table with the morning people being pointedly obnoxious towards those that were barely functioning with the help of coffee. It was a wonder Bruce hadn't hulked out yet. Despite being hard to wake up, Amber made it her personal goal to be as obnoxious as possible. Sam normally joined in this madness, with Steve sitting next to her and staying out of the line of fire.

"Have a good day at school, kiddies," Tony called out as Amber and Sam left the table.

"Wait, aren't you coming back after you drop Amber off," Steve asked Sam.

"Oh, I have a paper due for my English class so I need to work on it at the house where I can have some peace and quiet," she replied with a meaningful glance at Tony.

"I have no clue what you are talking about," Tony said as Amber and Sam headed off to the elevator.

After Sam dropped Amber off there was still loads of time before the meeting. She took to pacing around the house as she thought about what she was doing. Could she really go through with this? Then she looked at the kitchen walls, which used to be covered in pictures of her like wallpaper. They had made this personal, and she would see it through.

She left the house around 11:30. Sam was going to play this smart. She showed up on a parking garage roof adjacent to the building she was supposed to show up at. It was a nice spot to scout everything out. She could set up the perfect trap and ambush them from here.

Sam walked over to the edge of the roof. There was a thick cement wall running around it to the height of her waist. It was just the size for her to crouch behind.

Then Sam heard a cell phone ringing. She looked down at her phone in her pocket, but it definitely wasn't it. Over in the corner a black cell phone sat on the edge of the wall, playing 'Where'd You Go' as its ring tone. A cold feeling settled into Sam's entire being. It was a trap.

She immediately looked around her at the other buildings; someone must be hidden spying on her to know she was there. How did they even know where she would show up? There were too many things wrong here. She needed to run for it, while she could; alert the other Avengers and get them involved.

There was a cracking sound in the distance, which Sam vaguely recognized as the sound of a gunshot. It came to her blurrily, like a ripple across a pond. Her vision started to tunnel. She looked down; her entire body was numb with shock as she watched crimson blossom across her chest and the world faded to black.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thank you so much to my lovely followers and reviewers. I love how many of you commented on that terrible cliff hanger I left. Also, I'm so glad you're all attached to Sam. And I love the poorly veiled threats I received from amillionthanks if I was planning on killing off Sam. On a completely unrelated note, I have read so many fanfics where Clint walks in and interrupts whatever is going on that I think we need to make a new "Interrupting Clint" meme. Someone get on that. This is your assignment. Also, I am dreadfully bored on Mondays and Wednesdays when I sit around the campus for hours between classes, so feel free to drop me a PM. Let's be friends. ;) I think I've made enough suspense, so here's the next chapter. Disclaimer: Having finger puppets of all of the Avengers that you made yourself does not constitute as owning the Avengers, so they're still not mine. **

"Tony, I know you guys are all cool and saving the world and stuff, but would it kill you guys to at least let me know that you won't be picking me up on time," Amber complained into her phone. Sam was now half an hour late and wasn't answering any calls or texts from her. She figured they were in the middle of something important, so she called Tony instead. He almost always answered.

"What," Tony asked. "The only thing I'm saving is my level on Call of Duty. Why, what's going on?"

"Oh," Amber frowned. "Sam never showed to pick me up, and she's not answering."

"Maybe she's just busy. I'll try giving her a call," Tony told Amber and hung up.

Sam phone rang for a few seconds before going straight to voice mail. Tony tried it again and hung up after getting the same results.

_Hey missy, you're supposed to keep your phone on you in case there's an emergency_, Tony texted her. He smiled as he felt incredibly dad-like in that moment. He should have tacked on 'or you're grounded young lady'.

_Give her a few more minutes. She's probably working on something or fell asleep, _Tony texted Amber.

Half an hour later he got another text from Amber. _Okay, she's usually not this late. Seriously, what's up?_

"Spandex," Tony called into the living room where Steve was sitting with Natasha and Clint. "Do you know where Sam is, because Amber called and said that she's an hour late?" He had the full attention of the room now.

"Sam never said anything to me," Steve said as he got up from his seat. There was something wrong here, he knew it. Sam would never be late, especially to keep Amber waiting. Natasha and Clint heard something in his voice, and they wordlessly got up as well. This was a team issue now.

Ten minutes later the word had been spread to the entire team, and they were all gathered in the meeting room. It was determined that if Sam refused to respond for another hour, they would go. Steve wanted to go immediately, but he held off for another hour. He knew something was wrong. She had been acting odd for a couple of days now, and he had fallen for her saying it was about her parents. Why had she lied to him? Whatever this mess was, he could have helped her.

Among the search party, Bruce had opted to stay back. They didn't want to bring him along in case it put him in a situation where he might Hulk out when it would be dangerous, and someone had to stay behind with Loki.

After another hour had passed with several more missed calls, texts, and voicemails, the team called it. They told Amber to remain in a public area and Thor transported them all with Mjolnir.

They went to Sam's house first, as it seemed like the most likely place to find answers. It didn't take very long; Natasha went through the open mail on the coffee table and found the greeting card. Sam hadn't even bothered to hide it, but then again perhaps she had done so intentionally.

"It sounds like the same person," Clint said as Natasha finished reading the card out loud.

Steve felt both fearful and angry. How could Sam think she could do this? They were a team, and more importantly the two of them were a couple. She should never have thought she could go alone. He remembered how it seemed like Sam had been hiding something; she purposely left them out of this. First he was going to save her, and then he was going to yell at her. He never thought Sam could do something so incredibly stupid.

The Avengers hurried off to the meeting place in the card. It wasn't very far from Sam's house. Once there they covered the entire roof of the building, but there wasn't a clue anywhere. In fact, it didn't look like anyone had been up there in over a week. Frustration began to creep up on Steve, but he couldn't let it show. He was team leader, and even when things became extremely personal he couldn't let the team down.

"I'm going to scout from the other buildings, see if someone had a better vantage point," Clint said. Natasha nodded and followed. Tony was having JARVIS run a scan over the building, and even Thor was "conversing with the inhabitants nearby". That left Steve with absolutely nothing better to do than pace the top of the roof to dispense his energy. Tony saw it, but thought better than to say anything.

"I think I've got something," Clint said into the earpiece. He was at the top of a law office across the street.

"What is it," Steve asked urgently.

There was a pause before the answer. "There's some cigarettes left around here, whoever was sitting up here must have waited around. I've also got some shell casings from a sniper rifle." Clint didn't say the rest, but he didn't need to. This was a trap, designed for Sam. Someone had sat there and waited it out.

Steve quickened his pacing. Just because it was there didn't mean she got hurt. It was impossible to dismiss the evidence sitting there, but that didn't mean she actually got shot. There could be a valid reason for her not having her phone on her, for not contacting the team. He refused to believe it. There was no way Sam could be…gone.

Natasha's voice broke the dead silence about five minutes later. She spoke quietly, knowing no one wanted to hear what she was about to say. "Guys, I've found something."

"What," Steve said into his earpiece urgently. He came out sounding harsh, but he couldn't find it in him to apologize.

"On the parking garage roof adjacent to your building…there's blood. Quite a bit too," Natasha said softly. There was a long stretch of silence as the words sunk in. Realization started to sink into Steve, and he was numb to everything else.

_But…but she can't be dead_, he forced himself to think. _She heals, and she can escape. She has to have gotten out of this. She can't be gone. _His eyes glazed over with the tears he refused to let escape.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sam groaned as she tried to shift onto her side. It felt like she had been drop kicked onto a bed of concrete. As she moved, something tugged at her wrist. She opened her eyes and adjusted to the blurry brightness filtering in through her lashes.

She had never been hungover, but she imagined it must feel something like this. Sam had a pounding headache, her whole being was sore and her mind refused to work beyond a sluggish pace. All she wanted to do was pull a cover over her and sleep until she could process everything.

Why had she even opened her eyes? Oh yeah, her wrist. Sam glanced down and saw a metal restraint locking her wrist to the table. It was like she dipped her head into ice water. She was fully awake and alert now as her mind struggled to figure out how she got here. She started tugging on both the restraints around her wrists, and discovered ones around her waist and ankles as well.

Then came the pain. It appeared in a wave, and eclipsed every other thought she had. She closed her eyes against the sheer force of it and struggled to bite back any noise. Wherever she was, she was in danger.

She struggled to control her breathing, to slow it down. Breathing faster only intensified the sharp pain in her side. After a few minutes, she finally found the will to pick her head up again. She looked down at her shirt. Funny, she thought it had been white. Now it was a bloody mess, with a dark crimson color centered just beneath her rib cage.

She felt another pang of pain equally intense in her right leg. So she had been shot twice. This was not good. The panic was about to set in, and Sam started focusing on breathing in slow, shallow breaths to avoid moving much. Why wasn't she healing quicker? She tried to teleport back to the tower, to anywhere, but the energy needed to do that would completely take away from the energy needed to heal. She was barely alive as it was; to try that would mean openly bleeding again. She would probably bleed to death before she ever got any help.

Sam started to remember things. She remembered the top of the roof, hearing the phone start to ring. She remembered talking to everyone around the kitchen table this morning. If it was this morning….how long had she- the thought had her pulse quickening again. She shook her head to control her thoughts. She remembered the little blue envelope, and the card inside.

Oh no, what had she done? She remembered Steve holding her tight yesterday, telling her he was there for her. Why hadn't she told him? How could she have done this? She was trying to prove that she was still so strong, did this prove her case now? Was it so much better for her to end up strapped to a metal table than to admit she needed help?

Tears burned in her vision and she blinked them away, letting them escape and roll down her cheeks and into her hair. She didn't care about that anymore. In the back of her mind she noted the stinging it had caused; she probably had a cut on her cheek. Sam gave up caring. She was trapped here, in someone else's game. The worst part was that she did it to herself.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thank you so much for all of the love you guys. I swear, you guys rock. This story is just about to round the final stretch here. I'm a little sad that it's about to be over. I'll probably make a sequel to it, so you guys might want to keep checking back to my page. I'm going to start posting a new idea for a story I had, but maybe I'll do a sequel for this at the same time. I don't know, it depends on the feedback. I really love my next story though, and I think you guys are gonna love it too.**

"I didn't think you normally cried," a man's voice said from a corner. Sam jumped and tried to turn her head, but she could not see him from this angle. How long had he been there? "What's the matter, Sammy? Don't tell me you've gotten soft."

"Who are you," Sam managed to choke out. Her voice sounded terrible, like she had a sore throat. She wanted the words to come out angry and demanding, but they sounded lame and fearful even to her own ears.

"I don't think that's very important, do you? I'm more concerned about who _you_ are," the voice responded. His words would have sent shivers up Sam's spine if she allowed them too. As it was, her whole body was rigid, trying to keep from moving to minimize the pain.

"And do you know who I am," Sam asked him. She had meant to make it a threat, to warn him of how dangerous she was and that he did not want to mess with her, but after she asked it she suddenly decided she didn't want to know the answer.

"Oh, I know perfectly well," the voice responded. You could almost hear the cold smile in it. "Samantha Rose Harper, 18 years old, am I correct? You have a special way of regenerating your body, and you can teleport as well. Until recently you spent your free time as a vigilante helping others, but now you've joined the Avengers Initiative. Oh, and you seem particularly attached to Captain America, better known as Captain Steve Rogers. Need I go on?"

"Why me," Sam asked through her frozen state. "Why are you targeting me?"

"Have you really forgotten me, Samantha," the voice asked.

"I don't know what you mean," she said as she started to shake her head, then winced from the pain. "We've never met before."

"Granted, you were only a child at the time, but the procedure wasn't much perfected at the time, I would have thought you had some lasting memory," the voice mused. "I believe you were about seven. Do you remember your trip to the Yellowstone Park?"

Yes, Sam did remember. It was the last family vacation they ever took. It was the time she got lost in the woods for two days. They had been staying at a campground on their way back from the national park when Sam had wandered away to chase lightning bugs. She spent two days wandering the forest before a ranger had found her.

"What about it," Sam asked with narrowed eyes. She didn't want to hear him speak; she wanted to put a few bullets in him as well, and then see how he fared strapped to a metal table for hours.

The man chuckled. "They say that the mind can learn to forget things it doesn't want to cope with. Do you really believe you were simply lost in the woods? Where do you think you got your powers from?"

Sam took a deep breath, then bit her lip at the pain it caused her side. The man chuckled again. It was an unnerving sound, and she decided she never wanted to hear it again.

"Trying so hard to not move, aren't you? I wonder," he said as he walked around into Sam's field of vision. He was an older man, probably in his fifties, and had salt and pepper hair. He reminded her of a college professor. She couldn't absorb much else though, as he grabbed her right leg and twisted it as much as the restraint would allow.

Sam couldn't hold back the cry that tore out of her throat. The pain caused stars to pop into her field of vision, and she was momentarily blinded. Her hands clawed at the table beneath her. In that moment pain was the only thing she registered. She felt herself losing the will to stay alert, and black spots started to cover up the stars until her field of vision was completely dark.

"Not so fast," she heard a voice say. It was distant, like it came from across the room. Sam couldn't focus on it; she wanted to go to the darkness, it seemed like there wouldn't be pain there. Then she felt a hand grab her jaw and jut it upwards. Her eyes flickered open, but she couldn't remember shutting them. "You were asleep so long, I hope you'll humor me and stay awake a little while more. I suppose it may be my fault. Those bullets were special, developed them myself. They were laced with an antiserum of sorts, to counteract your powers. Not enough to extinguish them, but enough to keep you weak."

Sam tried to make some noise, form some word, but nothing came out. The man's cold grey eyes stared down at her as he watched her pathetic attempts.

"Too tired to talk? Its okay, you can listen. I am more than happy to talk for you," the man said. "Did you really think that you just woke up one day and suddenly gained your abilities? I know you were a child then, but you never looked back and wondered? You aren't a hero; you're a science experiment. I created a serum, something that would revolutionize the world. I know what you're thinking, but no, it's not as pathetic as the super soldier serum of your beloved Captain," he tacked the words on with disdain.

"No, I did something much better. I call it Project Silver. The serum awakens a part within your mind that you never knew existed. It can unlock the hidden talents one may possess. You were selected, out of many other possible candidates, from a blood sample that was taken when you received your shots. I decided you had the potential to become much more, so I chose you. It was better, in a way, to choose someone so young. There was so much more time for it to take effect, for it to change you," he paused in his speech and stared off at the wall, probably for nostalgic purposes.

"After the second day you had escaped. Imagine that, a little seven year old girl out fooling all of my guards, escaping the maze of hallways. I could have taken you back then, but I was curious. So I grabbed you again, tempered with your memories, and sent you along your way back to your family. Then I waited, and I watched, and what a fine experiment you have turned out to be," he finished.

The room was still as Sam absorbed all of this information and attempted to process it all. "So what next," she finally asked. The words felt brave; she had no clue what would happen, what he would decide.

She had never really contemplated her mortality. Sure, she went on dangerous missions, but she could heal. Death was never a big threat to her, until now. Suddenly she saw what it meant, to be close to the end. She wondered if her life would be over in a matter of hours. The thing Sam regretted the most was not telling anyone where she went. The idea of someone coming to her rescue would have been a fantasy, but she just wished she could have told someone goodbye. It felt so cold to leave without telling someone she loved them, and hearing it in return.

"What next," the voice echoed. "Now _that_ is for you to decide."

"In that case, let me go. You've had your fun," Sam said.

The man let out a breathy laughter. "Please try to not be so dimwitted Samantha, it suits you so ill. I have no intentions of letting you out of my grasp again. I merely meant that now is your turn to make a decision. You can choose to stay here willingly and help me, or it can be done the hard way."

"Help you with what," Sam asked. She knew where this was going, and it was a very bad road. She would stall for as long as she could, but Sam knew there was no happy ending ahead for her.

"I have other projects I must test, and of course it wouldn't be so bad to have someone as my right hand. I mean to claim this world as my own, and eventually I shall," the man said with his back to her. "I suggest you decide to join me now; you won't like it very much if you resist."

Sam remained quiet for a very long time. Let him think she was debating it. She had no intention of ever joining him, of that she was sure. If that choice meant death, it was the debt she must pay. She would not let herself be used as a weapon for their own selfish ends.

"Well," the man said as he turned back around to her.

Sam paused for a moment still. She wet her cracked lips before speaking, "my whole life I have spent protecting those around me. You think you are a great visionary, don't you? That you will be some sort of beacon lighting the way? I've seen men like you before. You have some power, and you try to use it to get more. It's never enough. I could so easily see your point of view, or be swayed to join you."

"At moments like this, when there's no hope, morals start to slip away, and the entire world turns grey. When it becomes impossible to tell right from wrong, that's when I'll remember this moment. I'll remember what it is, to sacrifice morals. I'll remember your face. I'll remember the day I was strong enough to tell right and wrong, and to say no. I'll remember your face, and never be like you," Sam words were barely above a whisper, but they were firm. There was resolve in her voice.

"Do you find the idea of being me that repugnant," he questioned.

"Don't you," Sam asked.

He grabbed her leg and twisted more painfully this time. She was braced for the pain, but couldn't help the scream that came out. There was a sneer on his face, and his laughter was cruel.

"In time, I think you will join me," he said as he twisted again.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks so much for my new followers and all of the new reviews. You guys all rock. I love your love. Disclaimer: I can neither confirm nor deny that I own the Avengers, but mostly I deny it. **

"No. No," Steve repeated while shaking his head. "This can't be it. There's something else, something more."

They had spent the last half hour combing the area, but they couldn't find anything else. There was no trail to follow, no new leads to find. The clues were gone…Sam was gone.

Just then Tony's suit pinged. JARVIS spoke to Tony for a second, before Tony relayed the information to the rest. "JARVIS went through all of the phone records in the past area. Sam's phone may not be working, but there was a hit for a cell phone from where the gun-"

"Where is it now," Steve snapped.

"Downloading the coordinates now, it shouldn't be too long," Tony said.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx XxX

"If you don't mind me asking, how long are you planning on dragging this out," the man asked. "I had hoped to take care of other business this evening."

"Please don't inconvenience yourself on my behalf," Sam said through gritted teeth. She wasn't sure how long they had been here: hours….days? She couldn't even tell how long she had been awake for. Time did not exist here; pain did.

Sam was doing her best to hang on. She wasn't expecting someone to come save her, but she could not stand the thought of giving in; she was far too stubborn for that. If it was the last thing she could do in this world, she would spite him.

"Oh, it is not a problem at all. I consider it a wise investment," the man said with an eerie smile. Everything about him made chills run down Sam's spine.

"Why Samantha, are these Captain America themed nails," he asked while looking at her hand. Her nails were royal blue with a white star in the center. Amber had painted them herself. "How sweet of you. I wonder what he'll do, once he realizes where you are…"

"If he ever found out, or any of the Avengers, I would not want to be you," Sam told him in as firm as a voice as she could manage.

She didn't think the Avengers would let her disappearance slide, and she knew they would figure it out. They were a strong team; when they came for him, he would stand no chance. It was almost a comforting thought, to know that karma would win in the end.

"You think they will find me, don't you," he asked with a smile. "Let's give them something to avenge, shall we?" She felt him grab her left ring finger between his, and then a cruel twist with a resounding crack.

The pain shot up her arm, but she was so used to pain in this short amount of time that at this point it felt like the familiar touch of a friend. If she closed her eyes she could imagine that she was somewhere far away from here. So she thought of Steve, of the times where she fell asleep curled up against him while watching a movie, or when they had strolled hand in hand through the park. She smiled at the memories as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

_Oh, Steve, I'm so sorry._

She knew what she was apologizing for. She was asking for forgiveness for what she had done, what she might need to do. Sam hoped that Steve could not stay mad at her.

"You smile," he mused. He sounded thoughtful, but there was an undercurrent there. Something that Sam chose to not read into.

"Yes, I do," Sam replied simply.

"And would you care to tell me why," he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I don't think I will," she replied. She wasn't sure that she could explain it. She just knew that whatever happened, wherever she went after this, it would not be as painful as his end would be. It was an odd sort of comfort.

The man shrugged and grabbed a scalpel from the side table. "I wonder, how quickly do you think you heal?" He slid the scalpel across her arm. Compared to her fingers, she didn't feel very much at all. There was the coolness of the steel, and a slight tugging sensation. Then warmth seeped over her arms. As far as torture went, he seemed to be back tracking.

In the next minute she figured out why it had to be this. The blood loss was going to her head. She felt light headed, and her thoughts became more sluggish. She wondered if this was it. Was this the end? Her eyelids felt so heavy. They tugged down at her vision, and she finally let them close. It felt so much better. It was almost like going to sleep.

With her eyes closed she could focus on an image of Steve so much better. It was blurry, but it was him. She could almost hear his voice. In fact, if she focused she could hear him say her name…and gun shots. She frowned. In her last moments, she wanted to hear Steve, not this.

The annoying noise got louder and louder, and it tugged on her consciousness. All she wanted to do was sink into the comfort of the blackness. When she couldn't take it anymore she slowly opened her eyes. She saw the man's lips moving, but she couldn't process the words. He was scrambling around faster than she could really follow. She only realized he had left the room when he was gone.

This was fine with Sam. She could close her eyes once again.

"Sam," she heard someone yell down the hallway. She knew the voice. Odd, she thought. His voice seemed so much closer now. It was just enough to make her curious. She kept her eyes open, trying to turn her head to the side so she could see the door.

The door burst open, and she saw a red, white and blue blurry image. It walked towards her immediately. She smiled, her captain was here. She could feel him moving around her, taking off the restraints. He was talking, but the words were a jumbled mess; she couldn't make anything out, but just hearing his voice was enough to make her smile.

Steve reached out and cupped her face with his hand. She tried to focus on the words he was saying. "Sam, Samantha? Are you okay? I'm going to get you out of here," he said urgently. She could hear the worry in his voice, the pain, but she didn't understand it. It was all okay now. The Avengers were there.

He gently scooped her up into his arms, and she heard him say "I found her". Well, that made no sense. Sam knew he found her. Oh wait, was that an earpiece? Sam's mind just wanted sleep. They were moving down a hallway now. From her position in Steve's arm she watched the ceiling overhead. It reminded her of a hospital.

She looked down at herself. There was blood all over. She frowned; she had probably gotten blood all over, including on Steve's suit. From what she could see, there were little red smudges across the front of it. She felt bad. His suit shouldn't get dirty because of her. Then again, she had a lot to be sorry about for him.

"Steve," she whispered. Her voice was horribly quiet. Somehow, he heard her. He looked down at her. "Steve, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry over. Just hang in there okay, Sam? Sam? You need to wake up," Steve said urgently. She felt him trying to keep her awake, but it was so hard. She had gotten her chance to say sorry, and he had forgiven her. Her conscience was clear. She didn't need to hang on anymore. So Sam let go.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sam was falling, falling. In the back of her mind she remembered Alice in Wonderland, where she tumbles through the rabbit hole. She knew she should be afraid of the landing, but in this moment she felt happiness. Then she realized that all of her pain was gone. It was an amazing feeling.

She saw the ground coming forward to meet her, but she slowed down until she lightly touched down with her feet. It was a graceful landing. The ground was odd, though. It looked like a grassy field, but the grass itself was a dark purple. She was standing under a giant tree, bigger than the Sequoias she had seen as a child. There were stars surrounding her in a spectacular view, and three moons. That couldn't be right.

"Oh, it's right," a woman's voice said behind her. Sam spun around to face the woman, ready to attack, but the woman looked so serene she couldn't imagine her a threat. She had dark black hair that flowed to her waist, and was dressed in white robes. Her face looked very kind, and she didn't look older than her twenties.

"Who are you," Sam asked her.

"That isn't important to you," the woman responded. Sam frowned; she was getting tired of that answer. The woman laughed in response. "I'm sorry. Not all questions have answers. I'm more concerned about why you are here."

"Where is here," Sam asked.

"Ah, it is the 'in-between' as some call it. A place to pass through," the woman said. Her voice was melodic. "It is where some end up, now and again, when they lose their way. How did you lose your way?"

"I don't know," Sam answered thoughtfully. "I've been lost for a while, I think. Then I died."

"I do not think that was meant to happen," the woman said while staring up at the tree. Sam joined her in looking up at the tree. It stretched so tall that Sam could not see the highest branches.

"Do you know what this tree is," the woman asked her. Sam simply shook her head. "Some call it Yggdrasil, the world tree. It connects everything together."

"So why am I here," Sam asked.

"You are being given a choice," the woman replied. "You were not meant to be here; if you wish, you may go back now."

"You mean, I have a second chance," Sam asked. She had fully turned to look at the woman now. "Why?"

"Sometimes, things come to pass that were not meant to happen," the woman said slowly. "Balance must be reached. You have worked to maintain that balance. Should you choose to go back, you can continue your work."

So that was the catch. She would have to go back, continue risking her life to save people. Did she want that to be the rest of her life? She saw the faces of people she knew in her mind: Amber, her parents, Steve, the rest of the Avengers. Were the happy moments worth all of the sadness?

"Yes," Sam said. "I've decided. I'm going home." As soon as she said the words, a wind picked up around her. It whipped at her hair and tore at her clothes, but did not affect the other woman or the tree. The grass around her swirled in a circle, but otherwise was still.

She could almost see the air churning around her, but through the wall of wind she could make out the smiling woman as she walked back to the tree's trunk. She pressed her palm against it, glowed, and then the woman disappeared entirely. Sam blinked, and everything was gone.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sam gasped as she took in air. The room was bright, incredibly so. Would it kill someone to turn it down a bit? Her head felt like it had been stomped on, but other than the pounding headache she felt fine.

"Sam, can you hear me," a disembodied voice asked her. She smiled; she would listen to that voice any day.

"Of course I can," she responded as she turned her head. Steve was hovering nearby, staring at her while wringing his hands. She knew he looked upset, probably over what had happened to her. She knew she should feel guilty that it was her fault, but there he was, and here she was. She couldn't feel anything but happy when she was in the same room as him.

Her words caused him to have a relieved look wash over his features. He crossed the distance between them and gave her a gentle hug. Well, that wouldn't work. She hugged him back with as much force as she could muster, holding him tightly and not releasing.

"I am so sorry, Steve," she whispered into his ear.

"Just don't ever do that again," he responded.

"I promise," she said. She meant it.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Epilogue:

"Scoot over," Amber complained. Sam rolled her eyes, but made room on the couch for her. Steve took the seat on the other side of her. They had both been impossible this last week. One of them was always with her. It drove her crazy in an endearing way.

There wasn't any sort of danger at this point. The man, Dr. Martins, was found a little after Sam was. He wasn't far away, only a few rooms down. Apparently the threat of the Avengers was very real for him. He had taken a cyanide capsule, died before anyone could find him. Sam shook her head a little to get the thoughts out. She wasn't supposed to be thinking of this anyway. Everyone had more or less grounded her to the tower ever since she got back.

"I don't think there has ever been a more perfect moment," Steve said to her as she leaned against him.

"I don't know, this moment isn't exactly perfect," Sam replied.

"What do you mean," Steve frowned.

"Well, there's one thing that I've been meaning to get off my chest," Sam said as she trailed off. "….I was behind the Captain Canada prank."

Steve just shook his head and laughed, as did Amber on the other side of her. Sam snuggled up against Steve's side. This was where she wanted to be.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Sitting at the bottom of a post office box, a small blue envelope sat waiting. Inside, the "see you soon" card addressed to the Avengers tower was on its way. The card had gotten caught in a light drizzle, and the red ink was smudged, but not enough that you couldn't decipher the writing on the inside.

_Don't you forget about me_

_Don't, don't, don't, don't_

_Don't you forget about me_

THE END

**A/N: This is it, guys. My first ever fanfic, completely finished. I can't believe it. Thank you so much to all of you who followed me chapter after chapter, and for those of you who recently joined. I have the first chapter for my next fanfiction, Bridges, already uploaded for those of you who would like to follow it. I will be making a sequel to Silver, but I think Sam has earned a vacation for a bit, don't you? I'll probably start it in a week or two, and to make it convenient for everyone I'll update a new chapter on this story with a link to the sequel. I hope you guys will check out Bridges; it mainly focuses on Thor and Loki (not a Thorki; you'll see when you read) and it has a character like Sam…sort of. Hopefully I managed to keep up the level of writing for this story, and I hope you guys will like Ria, my new OC. Anyways, until the next chapter for Sam, I'll see you then. **


	17. Just a little Author's Note

Hello everyone. I just want to sincerely apologize for dropping this story for so long, and stopping Bridges for those of you that followed it. I got caught up in a lot of personal issues and went down the rabbit hole, so to speak. Anyway, after all of this I felt like my writing was suffering and I didn't want to post something I wasn't proud of as my best writing, so I took an unannounced hiatus. Thanks to the wonderful, magnificent amillionthanks, I'm going to start on the second story in this trilogy, Gilded Lies. You can expect this new story to show within the next few days, and I will do my best to update it biweekly or so. I'm not sure if I'm posting a link to the story in a chapter here, so look for it in my author's alerts or some other fashion. I'm sorry for the inconvenience and I hope you all can forgive me as I continue to write Sam's tale. Maybe you can use this opportunity to freshen up on what happened, just as I have.

Also, I just want to take a moment to clear a few things up from this story that I feel should be addressed before I start the next installation. I'm a fan of using symbolism, and I want to talk about the title, "Silver Eyes". You see, Sam's eyes are obviously not silver. So why the title? Well, Project Silver changed a lot in Sam's life. Obviously she has new abilities, and she has to figure out what to do with all of it. It's changed her entire perspective of life. Therefore, she's looking at the world with "silver eyes", because it's literally changed how she views the world. Hope that cleared something up for anyone confused. Lots of love! And I promise, Gilded Lies is coming. Thank you to anyone still willing to read, and I promise to never pull such a long, unannounced hiatus again. 33333333


	18. Gilded Lies

Hey guys, just wanted to let everyone know the sequel to this story is now started! The first chapter is up and available here: www . /s/9049160/1/ Gilded-Lies (remove the spaces in it. fanfiction is evil about links, as you all know.) Happy reading and lots of love!


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